What Book Are You Currently Reading?
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  What Book Are You Currently Reading?
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Author Topic: What Book Are You Currently Reading?  (Read 396820 times)
Peeperkorn
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« Reply #200 on: October 01, 2011, 11:19:01 PM »

In literature, I've been trying with the russians, but  Dostoyevski was kind of grim. I'll give a chance to Tolstoi.


Whyyyyyyy!?!? D: I found The Brothers Karamazov extremely hopeful! But I give massive credit to Tolsoy, and you can't go wrong with either in my honest opinion.

I'm actually trying to decide between Madame Bovary, or The Antichrist or some other Neitzsche book, Or Crime and Punishment

If you are new to Nietzsche ideas begin with Twilight of the Idols.

Madame Bovary is fine.
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J. J.
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« Reply #201 on: October 02, 2011, 09:33:01 AM »


My point is that Gogol's satire is depressing and grotesque. (Unless you mean that your suggestion wasn't serious, and in that case, yes, I did miss it.)

Russia was a fairly depressing place at the time.  He lightened it by making fun of it.
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Filuwaúrdjan
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« Reply #202 on: October 02, 2011, 10:20:49 AM »


My point is that Gogol's satire is depressing and grotesque. (Unless you mean that your suggestion wasn't serious, and in that case, yes, I did miss it.)

Russia was a fairly depressing place at the time.  He lightened it by making fun of it.

That's a... novel... interpretation.
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Filuwaúrdjan
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« Reply #203 on: October 02, 2011, 10:21:41 AM »


Heretic.
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Gustaf
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« Reply #204 on: October 02, 2011, 11:38:21 AM »

I finished I Am A Cat. Very good. My most recent read was a weird book by Italo Calvino, called Cosmicomics. Very interesting but also rather strange. Calvino is really shooting up on my list of favourite writers.

Also, commenting on other stuff, Dostoyevski is hardly grim. If you want grim you should read Zola. Then again, Tolstoy is definitely more positive than him. If you want a less depressing Russian I'd think Bulgakov might be a good choice as well.

Madame Bovary on the other hand...talk about depressing. It makes even Dostoyevski's Demons seem lighthearted...
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Lief 🗽
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« Reply #205 on: October 02, 2011, 12:51:02 PM »

I'm getting sick of everyone hatin' on neocons!!

Hanson's argument is that freedom and free-market capitalism are why "Western civilization" (which to him encompasses everything from Greek city states to Alexander the Great to the Franks to the Holy League to 16th century Spain to Americans in Vietnam) triumphed over... well, he never really defines who they triumphed over, just everyone who didn't love freedom and capitalism enough, I guess. It's a ridiculous, ahistorical, contrived thesis, only saved by his talent at describing battles.
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Peeperkorn
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« Reply #206 on: October 03, 2011, 03:07:55 AM »



Madame Bovary on the other hand...talk about depressing. It makes even Dostoyevski's Demons seem lighthearted...

I hated the book when I read it for High School. So many descriptions! But 10 years after failed and successful relationships, now I can understand the character as a romantic Quixote and that very idea is great.

My problem with Dostoyesvski is that I started with Crime & Punishment....and wow, it was like several punches in my soul. My brother recommended me that I tried with Karamazov Brothers or The Idiot, but   couldn't find a good edition...
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Peeperkorn
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« Reply #207 on: October 03, 2011, 03:10:22 AM »

If you want grim you should read Zola.

I bought Nana several years ago but never tried it.
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Filuwaúrdjan
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« Reply #208 on: October 03, 2011, 08:38:12 AM »

I recommend you start with Demons. It's great and also frequently hilarious.
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I Am Feeblepizza.
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« Reply #209 on: October 03, 2011, 09:09:18 AM »

Known and Unknown, by Donald Rumsfeld. Right now he's talking about the Republican primaries of 1976 and the defense buildup that started after he became defense secretary under Ford.
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Peeperkorn
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« Reply #210 on: October 03, 2011, 12:29:27 PM »

What about White Nights ? My brother has a copy here at home.
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Filuwaúrdjan
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« Reply #211 on: October 03, 2011, 12:29:53 PM »

I recommend you start with Demons. It's great and also frequently hilarious.

I usually hear Notes From Underground recommended to those beginning to read Dostoevsky. Admittedly, I've never finished Demons, but Notes is less intimidating at about 60 pages.

I wasn't being entirely serious; Demons is a very complicated book (multiple layers, multiple genres, the usual unreliable narrator...) and is probably not suitable as a gateway drug to Dostoyevsky. It is wonderful though.
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Peeperkorn
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« Reply #212 on: October 03, 2011, 02:00:04 PM »

What about White Nights ? My brother has a copy here at home.
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Insula Dei
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« Reply #213 on: October 03, 2011, 02:55:03 PM »

Reading Carlyle's French Revolution.

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Roemerista
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« Reply #214 on: October 03, 2011, 09:59:41 PM »
« Edited: October 03, 2011, 10:03:47 PM by A Roemerista »

I always enjoyed Crime and Punishment more than Brothers K.

I would highly suggest to you Notes from Underground.  I think it is accessible...but its still him, so expect punches to the Soul.

As for me? Well I am tackling What it takes right now.
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20RP12
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« Reply #215 on: October 04, 2011, 07:03:20 PM »

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Lief 🗽
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« Reply #216 on: October 06, 2011, 07:29:28 PM »

Has anyone ever read this book?



It's really fascinating. All I really knew of Soviet law was the Stalin-era show trials/purges, so it's interesting to see the more just post-Stalin mish-mash of continental-style civil law and socialist influences, as well as the way more day-to-day mundane cases were handled.
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Yelnoc
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« Reply #217 on: October 06, 2011, 09:27:27 PM »

I'm getting sick of everyone hatin' on neocons!!

Hanson's argument is that freedom and free-market capitalism are why "Western civilization" (which to him encompasses everything from Greek city states to Alexander the Great to the Franks to the Holy League to 16th century Spain to Americans in Vietnam) triumphed over... well, he never really defines who they triumphed over, just everyone who didn't love freedom and capitalism enough, I guess. It's a ridiculous, ahistorical, contrived thesis, only saved by his talent at describing battles.
What drivel.

I suggest Why the West Rules - for Now by Ian Morris.  An apolitical comparison of east and west over all of history, using both quantitative and qualitive methods.  I learned a lot about history while reading it; specifically eastern Europe.  I knew the Chinese dynasties from school, but knowing the dynasties and knowing the economics, population patterns, culture, wars, and public works is much more useful.
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J. J.
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« Reply #218 on: October 07, 2011, 12:05:41 PM »


My point is that Gogol's satire is depressing and grotesque. (Unless you mean that your suggestion wasn't serious, and in that case, yes, I did miss it.)

Russia was a fairly depressing place at the time.  He lightened it by making fun of it.

That's a... novel... interpretation.

I saw the satire.  I love Dr. Strangelove, too.
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Filuwaúrdjan
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« Reply #219 on: October 07, 2011, 01:32:35 PM »


Yes... you see... it's not spotting that it's satire that is... um... novel.
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Gustaf
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« Reply #220 on: October 08, 2011, 06:27:55 AM »

I am reading The Mystery of Capital by Hernando de Soto.
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Orthodox
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« Reply #221 on: October 08, 2011, 08:38:29 PM »

Rereading Postwar by Tony Judt.
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Yelnoc
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« Reply #222 on: October 10, 2011, 09:31:21 PM »

Just finished...

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Marokai Backbeat
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« Reply #223 on: October 11, 2011, 09:18:06 PM »
« Edited: October 12, 2011, 12:27:09 AM by Marokai Breakneck »



Rereading this again since the first time I read it when I was just 14, I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it was the first book related to politics that I read in it's entirety, but looking back on it so many years later, I'm frightened by now much I feel like the foundation of my attitude on politics was formed by this book, as well as Truth (With Jokes) that I read a year later.

Yes, blah blah, it's Al Franken, but throughout the entire book, Franken places a very serious importance on telling the truth, on basing your arguments in fact, and responding to untruths with empirical truth. It's a very very simple concept, but it's also a very important one that our politics, especially in the last decade+ has forgotten. Politics is serious, and it matters a whole lot, and it shouldn't be treated like a game. The issues we debate are serious, and if we deserve anything, it's that the issues should be debated genuinely and honestly in good faith.

I very very strongly believe that. And it's the foundation for almost everything else that I believe in.

Near the end of the book, Franken writes this, which I think is the take-away from the book, even though it focuses on right-wing figures or particular lies from the Bush Administration:

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He's right. It only depresses me that, since writing this book 7 years ago-ish, the other side has only gone further down the rabbit hole. One side of American politics earnestly wants to govern and treat politics as a system for doing good. The other side, does not. And they do not value empirical truth the way that we do.

Those who treat politics and elections as a game are not serious people. And they should not be treated as serious people. That's essentially the message of the book. Don't lie about stuff that matters, and if someone does, go after them with everything you've got.
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Хahar 🤔
Xahar
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« Reply #224 on: October 13, 2011, 02:30:45 AM »

I'm getting sick of everyone hatin' on neocons!!

Hanson's argument is that freedom and free-market capitalism are why "Western civilization" (which to him encompasses everything from Greek city states to Alexander the Great to the Franks to the Holy League to 16th century Spain to Americans in Vietnam) triumphed over... well, he never really defines who they triumphed over, just everyone who didn't love freedom and capitalism enough, I guess. It's a ridiculous, ahistorical, contrived thesis, only saved by his talent at describing battles.

Exactly what you would expect from the title, isn't it?


I think that my favorite part of that book is that the name of the hypothetical Bangladeshi child making shoes in a factory is "bad shoe" in Bengali.
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