What Book Are You Currently Reading?
       |           

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?
March 28, 2024, 06:32:35 AM
News: Election Simulator 2.0 Released. Senate/Gubernatorial maps, proportional electoral votes, and more - Read more

  Talk Elections
  General Politics
  Political Debate
  Book Reviews and Discussion (Moderator: Torie)
  What Book Are You Currently Reading?
« previous next »
Pages: 1 ... 32 33 34 35 36 [37] 38 39 40 41 42 ... 68
Author Topic: What Book Are You Currently Reading?  (Read 396834 times)
© tweed
Miamiu1027
Atlas Superstar
*****
Posts: 36,563
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #900 on: December 06, 2013, 07:19:16 PM »

Reading the Communist Manifesto online right now.

we lost a while ago, nobody knows exactly when, but they know we lost.  much as in Genesis 1-3.  we know it happened, we know it's true but we don't know when it happened, which opens a window for all the exploiters to say "not this, but that", and run the world on these train tracks that lead to a cliff with a social fire on the other side.
Logged
TJ in Oregon
TJ in Cleve
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 8,952
United States


Political Matrix
E: 0.13, S: 6.96

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #901 on: December 07, 2013, 10:01:37 PM »

Logged
World politics is up Schmitt creek
Nathan
Moderators
Atlas Superstar
*****
Posts: 34,248


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #902 on: December 08, 2013, 12:47:16 AM »


!!!

What do you think of it?
Logged
TJ in Oregon
TJ in Cleve
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 8,952
United States


Political Matrix
E: 0.13, S: 6.96

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #903 on: December 08, 2013, 10:19:27 PM »


I haven't quite finished yet, but I do think it is a good book with a number of places that have some really great dialogue. Unlike, say Brave New World, I don't think the general premise of society having the life cycle of a phoenix is predictive of the future really, but it's still quite intriguing. I particularly liked the Fiat Lux portion so far and wish Miller would have told us more about how that subplot turned out. I'm appreciating the struggles of the Abbot in Fiat Voluntas Tua against the regime on euthanasia as well.
Logged
True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)
Ernest
Moderators
Atlas Legend
*****
Posts: 42,157
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #904 on: December 08, 2013, 11:34:27 PM »

I particularly liked the Fiat Lux portion so far and wish Miller would have told us more about how that subplot turned out.

You may wish to read Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman then.  It's set about seventy years after Fiat Lux. Miller was working on it when he died and the estate had another author finish it.
Logged
FEMA Camp Administrator
Cathcon
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 27,284
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #905 on: December 09, 2013, 03:17:14 AM »

Been digging through "The Hero With a Thousand Faces" for my (very off-topic) Academic Writing final. That said, when I'm done with this, there's some reading I'd like to do, some of it influenced by things I either stumbled upon or was reminded of while researching this paper. "Paradise Lost" and "The Ballad of the White Horse" could be interesting.

Solid choice, TJ. I have a copy, though I've yet to read it. Nevertheless, the back cover alone looks interesting, and with it being about a monk, seems like it would be right up your alley.
Logged
World politics is up Schmitt creek
Nathan
Moderators
Atlas Superstar
*****
Posts: 34,248


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #906 on: December 09, 2013, 06:10:57 AM »
« Edited: December 09, 2013, 09:54:12 AM by asexual trans victimologist »


I haven't quite finished yet, but I do think it is a good book with a number of places that have some really great dialogue. Unlike, say Brave New World, I don't think the general premise of society having the life cycle of a phoenix is predictive of the future really, but it's still quite intriguing. I particularly liked the Fiat Lux portion so far and wish Miller would have told us more about how that subplot turned out. I'm appreciating the struggles of the Abbot in Fiat Voluntas Tua against the regime on euthanasia as well.

That's Miller's interest in Buddhism and Buddhist cosmologies seeping through into his Catholicism. You see more of that in the posthumously-published (and really not as good, though still full of interesting characters and concepts) Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman. If 'Fiat Lux' was the part that you liked best then you might want to read Wild Horse Woman, since it follows up on the events of that a few generations later, mostly from the perspective of the remaining Plains Nomads and their allies in the Church. Just remember that Miller was in an even darker frame of mind writing it than he was writing Canticle, and had drifted away from orthodoxy somewhat. (EDIT: Ernest got there first.)

Overall Canticle is one of my favorite novels ever, though obviously not without some flaws.
Logged
True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)
Ernest
Moderators
Atlas Legend
*****
Posts: 42,157
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #907 on: December 09, 2013, 08:47:56 AM »


But you gave a fuller discourse, one I was not able to provide since I have not read Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman myself.  I tend to be dubious of estate-completed sequels.  They rarely are as good as the original.

As for my own reading, Christ the Eternal Tao is currently on my plate.  It's written by an Russian Orthodox hieromonk and treats Lao Tzu in a manner similar to how Greek philosophers are often treated by the Church.  It's interesting, but I need to read some undiluted Daoist works before I can reasonably hope to comment on how faithful to the Daoist perspective the work is.
Logged
Sol
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 8,051
Bosnia and Herzegovina


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #908 on: December 11, 2013, 06:02:48 PM »

Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges in my free time, finishing up Their Eyes Were Watching God for school.

The politics of the latter are interesting, to say the least.
Logged
The world will shine with light in our nightmare
Just Passion Through
Atlas Legend
*****
Posts: 45,174
Norway


Political Matrix
E: -6.32, S: -7.48

P P P

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #909 on: December 12, 2013, 03:23:19 PM »



More of a page-turner than I thought it would be.
Logged
Dave from Michigan
9iron768
Sr. Member
****
Posts: 3,298
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #910 on: December 12, 2013, 04:40:51 PM »

I'm reading a book, I will give you the opening paragraph and see if you can guess it.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
Logged
Beet
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 28,802


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #911 on: December 12, 2013, 04:54:59 PM »

I'm reading a book, I will give you the opening paragraph and see if you can guess it.

It was the best of times,

You could have left it at that bud.
Logged
True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)
Ernest
Moderators
Atlas Legend
*****
Posts: 42,157
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #912 on: December 12, 2013, 05:08:21 PM »

I'm reading a book, I will give you the opening paragraph and see if you can guess it.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Tale of Moderate Heroism?
Logged
MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!
Kalwejt
Atlas Institution
*****
Posts: 57,380


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #913 on: December 12, 2013, 05:48:15 PM »

Finishing Les Bienveillantes.
Logged
The Dowager Mod
texasgurl
Moderators
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 15,972
United States


Political Matrix
E: -9.48, S: -8.57

P P P

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #914 on: December 13, 2013, 12:13:35 PM »

Midnight at the well of souls --- Jack L Chalker
Logged
anvi
anvikshiki
YaBB God
*****
Posts: 4,400
Netherlands


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #915 on: December 13, 2013, 11:18:20 PM »

I'm reading a book, I will give you the opening paragraph and see if you can guess it.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Tale of Moderate Heroism?

On an old episode of Cheers, Cliff Claven said after hearing this passage: "Boy, this Dickens guy really likes to keep his butt covered, doesn't he?"

Anyway, Ernest, if you're looking for some decent intro to Daoism, here are a couple of things that you might find useful:

--The chapters on "Lao Tzu" and "Chuang Tzu" from A.C. Graham's book Disputers of the Tao.
--Hans Georg Meoller's book The Philosophy of the Daodejing.

There are way over one hundred translations of the Dao De Jing in English.  For relative fidelity to the Chinese as well as lucidity of translation, though I'd still have some quibbles, I'd recommend the one by P.J. Ivanhoe.  But, whichever one you pick, just don't read Steven Mitchell's; he so completely distorts the meaning of the text that it makes me doubt his claims to understand classical Chinese at all.
Logged
Beet
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 28,802


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #916 on: December 14, 2013, 01:09:50 AM »

I haven't been doing too much heavy reading lately, but I just finished The Four Agreements by don Miguel Ruiz, and it's surprisingly good and one of the easiest reads possible.
Logged
Atlas Has Shrugged
ChairmanSanchez
Atlas Superstar
*****
Posts: 38,096
United States


Political Matrix
E: 5.29, S: -5.04


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #917 on: December 15, 2013, 09:15:04 PM »

Learned all I need to learn from the Power Broker, moving on to the Years of Lyndon Johnson. I also checked out "Walden And Other Writings" by Henry David Thoreau.
Logged
Deus Naturae
Deus naturae
YaBB God
*****
Posts: 3,637
Croatia


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #918 on: December 15, 2013, 09:35:19 PM »

Logged
World politics is up Schmitt creek
Nathan
Moderators
Atlas Superstar
*****
Posts: 34,248


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #919 on: December 15, 2013, 09:41:45 PM »

I've started Le Morte d'Arthur.

It's...certainly something.
Logged
afleitch
Moderators
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 29,833


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #920 on: December 16, 2013, 07:08:04 AM »

I'm reading Tintin. Because it's Christmas.
Logged
True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)
Ernest
Moderators
Atlas Legend
*****
Posts: 42,157
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #921 on: December 16, 2013, 12:18:03 PM »

I'm reading Tintin. Because it's Christmas.

Nothing so wonderfully captures the Christmas spirit as Tintin in the Congo.  What better exemplifies the spirit of giving that marks the season than white men giving civilization to child-like Africans?
Logged
© tweed
Miamiu1027
Atlas Superstar
*****
Posts: 36,563
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #922 on: December 19, 2013, 05:23:43 PM »

Resa Aslan - Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth


I was able to get it for $13 so I took the plunge.  it's relatively well done, and written for a mass rather than an academic audience, unlike most of the reading on religion/theology I've done over the past few years, which is refreshing, in its own way.  he focuses on the 'historical Jesus' and takes great pains to place him within the context of the socio-political situation of first-century Palestine, especially vis-a-vis the relationship between the Jewish cult and the Roman occupation.

I did skip ahead and read the chapter on Paul, towards whom Aslan can barely conceal his enmity, fwiw.
Logged
World politics is up Schmitt creek
Nathan
Moderators
Atlas Superstar
*****
Posts: 34,248


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #923 on: December 19, 2013, 05:29:26 PM »

Le Morte d'Arthur is actually getting really good.
Logged
Beet
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 28,802


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #924 on: December 19, 2013, 07:59:32 PM »

intercourse by Andrea Dworkin (in honor of nathan... jk Wink)
Logged
Pages: 1 ... 32 33 34 35 36 [37] 38 39 40 41 42 ... 68  
« previous next »
Jump to:  


Login with username, password and session length

Terms of Service - DMCA Agent and Policy - Privacy Policy and Cookies

Powered by SMF 1.1.21 | SMF © 2015, Simple Machines

Page created in 0.073 seconds with 13 queries.