Post: #176

The second world war - Anthony Beevor.

I really enjoyed Stalingrad by the author so this seemed like a natural transition.

Post: #177

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (author of No Country for Old Men)

This is exactly the kind of book I can imagine forum readers loving. It's also one of the dirtiest, most violent books I've ever read.

Post: #178

Faust Part 1 and Part 2 by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe. I am really enjoying it so far

Post: #179

Described as the best book on the Sicilian Mafia in any language. Excellent read, doesn't glamourize them in any way, lots of facts I never knew - like the myth they were an ancient brotherhood of Sicilian patriots; they really emerged in 1860 and have modernised and evolved at every turn in Italian history.

Post: #180

In the realm of hungry ghosts - Gabor Mate

Post: #181

The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Philosophical Essays.

I'm having trouble understanding it as thoroughly as I want to but I'll keep reading it. It's interesting.

Post: #182

That is an interesting book.

You should check out my review of the film - 'Cool hand Luke'.

That book was a big influence on the film (and the book it is based on):

/thread-31121.html

Post: #183

"Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know" the autobiography of Ranulph Fiennes. Greatest living explorer today so kind of hard not to be intrigued.

http://www.amazon.com/Mad-Bad-Dangerous-...us+to+know

Post: #184

I just finished reading "King Leopold's Ghost." Another forum member recommended it. It's the story behind King Leopold of Belgium and the establishment of his personal colony in Congo from the 1870s to 1920. If you are interested in the colonial period of Africa then you must give it a read.

http://www.amazon.com/King-Leopolds-Ghos...0618001905

This chapter of history has been relatively ignored. It's estimated from 10 to 14 million native Africans perished either through exhaustion, disease or outright murder. It stands in company to the other great holocausts in history. It was a slavery based system that was driven purely by greed. It's a horrifying reminder of the depths of human depravity. Mutilation and chopping off of limbs was standard.

Leopold's Congo set the stage for Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness." Conrad worked on a steamboat along the Congo River and what he witnessed shook him deeply. The novel's main character, Kurtz, was probably based on the real-life head of an upriver trading post, a murderous Belgian named Rom. He had a gallows in his front hard and a garden lined with native skulls. Francis Ford Coppola's film "Apocalypse Now" also draws on Conrad's work.

All of this misery and devastation was for the personal enrichment of one man, King Leopold. He held the colony as his personal property, became decadently wealthy, and eventually sold it for a profit to the Belgian nation after exposure of the brutality lead to international condemnation.

Not all of the characters are villains. The book covers several of the missionaries and abolitionists who eventually swayed public opinion by exposing the barbarity of Leopold's Congo.

King Leopold's Ghost lays a foundation for the mess that the Democratic Republic of Congo is in today. In 1960, Belgium hastily granted Congo independence, a CIA-backed coup assassinated the popular anti-colonialist leader Patrice Lumumba, and the puppet Mobuto Sese Seko was installed. Mobutu changed the name to Zaire and ran the place as his own personal business venture, just as Leopold did before him. It was business as usual with the West. Mobutu died a few years back and his Zaire, once again called the Congo, plunged into the even greater chaos.

Post: #185

Heart of Darkness was a great novel. Not one of my favorites of all time, but a noteworthy read all the same.

Post: #186

On Women - Arthur Schopenhauer

http://www.theabsolute.net/misogyny/onwomen.html

Post: #187

(03-06-2014 08:51 AM)Checkmat Wrote:  Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (author of No Country for Old Men)

This is exactly the kind of book I can imagine forum readers loving. It's also one of the dirtiest, most violent books I've ever read.

If you like Cormac McCarthy then you should check out "The Road." It's very grim and hopefully it isn't a foreshadowing of humanity's future.

Post: #188

The AGony and the Ecstasy - Irving Stone. It's historical fiction about the life of Michelangelo. Absolutely fascinating.

Post: #189

Por que le pasan cosas malas a la gente buena by Ivan Gutierrez Rodriguez ( a colombian writer). Great book so far, I just don't like the religious descriptions.

Post: #190

When Things Fall Apart - Pema Chodron

The Book - Alan Watts

Pathways to Bliss - Joseph Campbell

Post: #191

(02-28-2014 06:05 PM)Ringo Wrote:  Currently reading Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet.

Very interesting if you are interested in surveillance, censorship and freedom in the web, written by the founder of Wikileaks and other activists. It's amazing how vulnerable we citizens are to the govt and hackers.

"[...] People put all their political ideas, their family communications, and their friendships on to the internet. So it's not just that there is increased surveillance of the communication. And it's not just an increase in the volume of communication; it's an increase in the types of communication. All these new types of communication that would previously have been private are now being mass intercepted." - Julian Assange

Just finished Inside Delta Force, by Eric Haney, about the elite counterterrorist unit created by the U.S. in the late 70s.

I enjoyed the selection and training bits of the book. Delta's operators are incredible soldiers.

Overall decent read, with a good, poetic chapter on Lebanon. Haney's patriotism (and "America is the savior of the world" speech) at the end of the book left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, though.

Post: #192

The gift of fear


Very good book for those who tend to trust other people easily. It also helps you to be more aware of your surroundings and be able to detect danger.

Post: #193

Recently finished Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky and Slaughterhouse Five. Just started Damned by Chuck Palahniuk.

Post: #194

'Toward An Anthropological Theory of Value - The False Coin of Our Dreams' by David Graeber.

Just at the start of the book - but already it is shaping up to be one of the best books I have ever read.

David Graeber is a brilliant writer and very smart. But what is nice is that he is a really easy person to read. He seems to hate academic writing as much as me. And he wants to express himself as interestingly and as clearly as possible. In my eyes - these guys are the smartest ones when it comes to writing books.

I found the book after reading Graeber's recent history of debt book which was superb.

I became interested in Karl Marx a few years a few years ago. One of the reasons is because I enjoy the way Marx tries to peel back the interlocking relationships and assumptions in capitalism. To really try to understand concepts like value, money, profit, work and so on. And to answer those simple questions which require a lot of deep thinking to get to the bottom of.

Marx may be wrong in his analysis. Or may not be. But it is a real thrill seeing him try to get to the bottom of seemingly simple questions. One of my goals for the future is to put together a lecture of sorts which communicates exactly why I find his work so rewarding. Since I am relating to it on a different level to the ones I usually see mentioned when it comes to Marx.

So - with all that in mind. How does it relate to the book I am reading by David Graeber?

Well - Marx was very interested in analysing the concept of value. And how the value of different activities could be compared. And his analysis was a rejection of the 'theory of marginal utility' which has subsequently become the foundational concept in modern economics. Indeed - in Marx's view - the theory of marginal utility totally ignores the question of how we define value. And instead analyses why things go up and down in value. Without actually grappling with the concept of what gives something it's value in the first place.

To give an example. Oil might be worth $100 a barrel today. And tomorrow it might be worth $110 due to the effects of supply and demand.

But why is it that a barrel of oil - no matter how much its value fluctuates - will always be worth more than a sweater? This is a question you can ask of any two objects in the world. And indeed - you can extend it. And ask questions like - why are ten TVs worth the same as an diamond ring and why are they worth the same as 10,000 apples? What does this tell us about the industries involved and the people who work in them?

To put it another way. Imagine an alien came to earth - who knew nothing about humanity. How would you explain to the alien that a diamond ring is worth the same as 10 TVs? Invoking supply and demand - would simply be to reword the same question which you didn't answer the first time. And wouldn't mean much to the alien.

That might sound like a silly question - with obvious answers. But when you unpack the question - it quickly gets you into some interesting questions and new ways of thinking about capitalism.

Anyway - the reason I am so excited about the Graeber book I am reading is that it attempts to go one step futher than Marx.

Marx was interested in an economic way of analysing the concept of value.

And value as a concept is the most important concept we have. Since it lies at the root of our concept of money. And money is the most important tool we have in society. To such an extent that the things you cannot buy are just as revealing about the nature of our society, as the things you can buy.

And to analyse how society is run. You have to analyse the role of money.

And to analyse money - you have to develop an understanding of what gives money its value.

And to do that - you have to try and understand the concept of value.

But - value is not just an economic concept. It is an idea which underpins all societies throughout history. Even though most of them did not think in the economic styles of thinking that are today so prevalent in the western world - such that we no longer realise how much our view of the world is shaped by it.

So what is Graeber trying to do with his book? He is not simply using anthropology to analyse how different cultures around the world shape their societies around different types of value. He is trying to rescue a project (the understanding of value) which anthropology long ago abandoned as being too difficult a project to undertake.

I have no idea where the book is going to take me - but it seems that Graeber will provide an interesting overview of how anthropologists (and economists - particularly Marxists) have tried to analyse the concept of value.

Before - ultimately setting out the new conclusions he has come to in this thorny subject area.

If I ever do put together a lecture around the work of Marx - then this book by Graeber will be an important postscript to it.

http://www.amazon.com/Toward-An-Anthropo...0312240457

Quote:This innovative book is the first comprehensive synthesis of economic, political, and cultural theories of value.

David Graeber reexamines a century of anthropological thought about value and exchange, in large measure to find a way out of quandaries in current social theory, which have become critical at the present moment of ideological collapse in the face of Neoliberalism.

Rooted in an engaged, dynamic realism, Graeber argues that projects of cultural comparison are in a sense necessarily revolutionary projects: He attempts to synthesize the best insights of Karl Marx and Marcel Mauss, arguing that these figures represent two extreme, but ultimately complementary, possibilities in the shape such a project might take.

Graeber breathes new life into the classic anthropological texts on exchange, value, and economy. He rethinks the cases of Iroquois wampum, Pacific kula exchanges, and the Kwakiutl potlatch within the flow of world historical processes, and recasts value as a model of human meaning-making, which far exceeds rationalist/reductive economist paradigms.

But more than that - I define myself as very much being of a MGTOW mindset. And the most important part of MGTOW - is sitting down and deciding what it is you truly value in life.

And having a better understanding of how society defines its concept of value - is an important insight to have when trying to analyse what is truly valuable in your own life.

The stakes couldn't be higher. And I am delighted that my favourite writer of recent years is the one who has written a book on the subject.

And ironically - it is only because of my MGTOW mindset (and the lack of bitches in my life) that I have the time and energy to uncover interesting books like this one.

Post: #195

(04-17-2014 11:30 AM)birdie num num Wrote:  

(03-06-2014 08:51 AM)Checkmat Wrote:  Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (author of No Country for Old Men)

This is exactly the kind of book I can imagine forum readers loving. It's also one of the dirtiest, most violent books I've ever read.

If you like Cormac McCarthy then you should check out "The Road." It's very grim and hopefully it isn't a foreshadowing of humanity's future.

Having read all of those, I liked All the Pretty Horses the most. That being said, I'm still pretty sure I despise Cormac McCarthy; although, I am not entirely sure.

Post: #196

I'm reading Isaac Asimov - Prelude to Foundation, as a relax before sleeping book.

Post: #197

(04-25-2014 09:44 PM)HankRearden Wrote:  

(04-17-2014 11:30 AM)birdie num num Wrote:  

(03-06-2014 08:51 AM)Checkmat Wrote:  Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (author of No Country for Old Men)

This is exactly the kind of book I can imagine forum readers loving. It's also one of the dirtiest, most violent books I've ever read.

If you like Cormac McCarthy then you should check out "The Road." It's very grim and hopefully it isn't a foreshadowing of humanity's future.

Having read all of those, I liked All the Pretty Horses the most. That being said, I'm still pretty sure I despise Cormac McCarthy; although, I am not entirely sure.

Despise is a strong word...Why exactly?

Personally in those mentioned for me it goes, Blood Meridian and the Road and ATPH were tied. The imagery in Horses was really good and the Road is so bleak and dreary. Feels like today (grey, rainy and cold). Blood Meridian combines both beautiful imagery of Mexico, mountains and plains with this indescribable evil and sense of darkness and dread. The complete lack of love/romance, unlike Horses, makes it so harrowing. There is no hope in that book.

Post: #198

(04-25-2014 09:44 PM)HankRearden Wrote:  

(04-17-2014 11:30 AM)birdie num num Wrote:  

(03-06-2014 08:51 AM)Checkmat Wrote:  Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (author of No Country for Old Men)

This is exactly the kind of book I can imagine forum readers loving. It's also one of the dirtiest, most violent books I've ever read.

If you like Cormac McCarthy then you should check out "The Road." It's very grim and hopefully it isn't a foreshadowing of humanity's future.

Having read all of those, I liked All the Pretty Horses the most. That being said, I'm still pretty sure I despise Cormac McCarthy; although, I am not entirely sure.

As for more Corrmac McCarthy stuff, I always loved The Sunset Limited. Fantastic writing. Yes it's a play, but that just means it'll only take you an hour to read. Some fantastic gold in there too from the character Black.

Post: #199

(04-30-2014 11:50 AM)classicjimmy Wrote:  

(04-25-2014 09:44 PM)HankRearden Wrote:  

(04-17-2014 11:30 AM)birdie num num Wrote:  

(03-06-2014 08:51 AM)Checkmat Wrote:  Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (author of No Country for Old Men)

This is exactly the kind of book I can imagine forum readers loving. It's also one of the dirtiest, most violent books I've ever read.

If you like Cormac McCarthy then you should check out "The Road." It's very grim and hopefully it isn't a foreshadowing of humanity's future.

Having read all of those, I liked All the Pretty Horses the most. That being said, I'm still pretty sure I despise Cormac McCarthy; although, I am not entirely sure.

As for more Corrmac McCarthy stuff, I always loved The Sunset Limited. Fantastic writing. Yes it's a play, but that just means it'll only take you an hour to read. Some fantastic gold in there too from the character Black.

Interesting you mention bc I saw the movie a few weeks ago. It's slow, very verbose but I watched the whole thing which I guess means I wasn't too uninterested. Dunno if I would recommend to many people...Unless you have a strong attention span.

Post: #200

Walter Block - Defending the undefendable (libertarian reasoning, weird/funny)
Joel Shurman - Broken Genius (Shockley bio, impressive man whose persistence ultimately destroyed him)
John Durant - Paleo Manifesto (food, good but not great, 50 pages was enough)
Robert Trivers - Folly of Fools (evolution of deception -- great stuff. anti-male bias becomes trite/tiresome)
Hillare Belloc - The Crusades (think of skipping it half-way, too much detail)
Brad Geddes - Advanced Google Adwords (way too detailed. Quit half-way. Taught me one thing: understand the basics so you can outsource to some college kid to do SEA/SEO FOR you)

I recommend Guy de Maupassant with "Bel-Ami" -- great read. Short, true, cool.