Post: #26

Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War by Robert Coram. It gets good after the obligatory overly dramatic childhood part and really illustrates how the Pentagon works.

Post: #27

The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss. A narrative of a crazy girl. Every chapter had the lines "She washed her face. She washed her hands and feet." about a dozen times, at least. One chapter consisted of "On the fourth day she wept." Total mindfuck. Definitely only for people who have read his other books.

Post: #28

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

Post: #29

Lock In - John Scalzi

Meh

Post: #30

Just finished reading "A Legacy of Ashes". It was a really interesting read. It details the history of the CIA into the post-9/11 era. It makes the CIA's early years look like a total shitshow, but it was all things I'd heard before so I don't doubt it's accuracy.

(12-31-2014 03:35 PM)VolandoVengoVolandoVoy Wrote:  All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

How'd you like it? I've done "The Road", "Blood Meridian", and "No Country for Old Men", like "NCfOM" the best. I've heard "All the Pretty Horse's is his best work though. Have you read any of the others?

Post: #31

(01-01-2015 12:18 PM)Hedonistic Traveler Wrote:  Just finished reading "A Legacy of Ashes". It was a really interesting read. It details the history of the CIA into the post-9/11 era. It makes the CIA's early years look like a total shitshow, but it was all things I'd heard before so I don't doubt it's accuracy.

(12-31-2014 03:35 PM)VolandoVengoVolandoVoy Wrote:  All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

How'd you like it? I've done "The Road", "Blood Meridian", and "No Country for Old Men", like "NCfOM" the best. I've heard "All the Pretty Horse's is his best work though. Have you read any of the others?

I've also read Blood Meridian, The Road, and the Crossing (2nd part in the Border trilogy).
All the Pretty Horses is the first book of the Border Trilogy, but since they are only thematically linked rather than a continuous storyline, it doesn't matter much the order you read them in.
I consider All the Pretty Horses to be one of the 3 best books I have read in any language...effectively tied 3 ways for 1st, as I wouldn't rank another book above it. It is that good.
I think Blood Meridian and the Crossing also make my top 10 list. I think the Road is good too, but not quite as masterful as the other 3 of McCarthy that I have read.
In general, Cormac McCarthy has become my favorite author in English (although to be fair, he does use a good amount of Spanish sprinkled throughout the books)...I like him more than Hemingway now.
My recommendation to RVF - if you have never read Cormac McCarthy before, make one of his books next on your list!

Post: #32

Heart of Darkness

Post: #33

Just finished The Alchemist not too long ago. Very easy to read and delivered a message that resonates with me.

Post: #34

No Longer Human, by Osamu Dazai.

A tale of a Japanese man who feels entirely disconnected from the human race. He cannot feel joy and does not understand how people behave.

To cope, he becomes a social clown, keeping people entertained with a jocular whimsy, all the while as he falls deeper into despair. Set in pre-war Tokyo.

Post: #35

I'm currently reading Captain Corelli's Mandolin. I've read around 100 pages so far and it's very good, quite traditional on the view of relationships, discipline etc..
would definitely recommend.

I will do a longer review on this thread once I've finished.

Post: #36

(01-01-2015 12:27 PM)VolandoVengoVolandoVoy Wrote:  

(01-01-2015 12:18 PM)Hedonistic Traveler Wrote:  How'd you like it? I've done "The Road", "Blood Meridian", and "No Country for Old Men", like "NCfOM" the best. I've heard "All the Pretty Horse's is his best work though. Have you read any of the others?

I've also read Blood Meridian, The Road, and the Crossing (2nd part in the Border trilogy).
All the Pretty Horses is the first book of the Border Trilogy, but since they are only thematically linked rather than a continuous storyline, it doesn't matter much the order you read them in.
I consider All the Pretty Horses to be one of the 3 best books I have read in any language...effectively tied 3 ways for 1st, as I wouldn't rank another book above it. It is that good.
I think Blood Meridian and the Crossing also make my top 10 list. I think the Road is good too, but not quite as masterful as the other 3 of McCarthy that I have read.
In general, Cormac McCarthy has become my favorite author in English (although to be fair, he does use a good amount of Spanish sprinkled throughout the books)...I like him more than Hemingway now.
My recommendation to RVF - if you have never read Cormac McCarthy before, make one of his books next on your list!

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll be moving it to the top my to-read list.

I actually just reread "The Sun Also Rises", it's probably my second favorite Hemingway behind "For Whom the Bell Tolls". I haven't done the short stories yet though.

This time around I read the two chapters that he had removed on Fitzgerald's recommendation. I definitely think it's better without those chapters.

I know a lot of people give him shit for his lack of description, especially with regards to "The Sun Also Rises", but I think it's great. He makes his writing seem so effortless. Whenever I read him my first thought is, "damn I should write a book", before I realize again how difficult that would be.

Post: #37

I just finished my first book of 2015, ‘The Magic of Reality’ by Richard Dawkins.

I'd describe this book as science for the every-man, very eye opening. Being red pill (for me) is seeing everything for what it really is, not just women. So this book definitely is red pill by my definition.

This was my first time reading Dawkins, I definitely want to check out some more of his stuff in the future.

Post: #38

Richard Dawkins is an amazing writer. He is the best writer in all of science. And is comparable with the best in any of the other fields.

Reading him you get the impression his brain is a well oiled Rolls Royce engine.

Post: #39

How to Get Rich - Felix Dennis

Enjoyed his writing style. Seem like a really awesome boss and great tidbits for future business owners.

Post: #40

A few that I've finished recently:



An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy 1917-1963, Robert Dallek: A fascinating read and quite long, it will take you through not only just his presidency but provide heavy details on his early life, especially his boyhood and teenage years. I've always found the Kennedy's a very interesting topic with their rise to prominence and everything that you didn't see going on in the background. They tried so hard to maintain a public image of the perfect family where nothing went wrong. This book will open up and give you some of the raw gritty details that people 50 years ago did not know. Also, I'm sure that if JFK was in his 20s today, he would be a member of the RVF forum. Guy fucked any hot girl that moved.



Around the World in 80 Girls, Neil Skywalker: Great story that's hard to put down about a Dutch guy and his experiences travelling across Europe, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. Easy to read, very relatable, some action, and a lot of drama (because seriously, it's called around the world in 80 girls), this was an awesome story about a guy starting with no game, and ending with a notch count in the higher upper digits.



Progressivism: A Primer on the Idea Destroying America, James Ostrowski: Not a great book, it was very hard to get through. The message was sound, I was more disappointed that the author tended to ramble his whole way through the book. I would have appreciated and hoped for a more measured analysis, but he just seemed to get on a tangent and ramble his way through the end of the chapter. Would not recommend.


Currently reading: Models: Attract Women Through Honesty, Mark Manson

Post: #41

Borrowing Brilliance: The Six Steps to Business Innovation by Building on the Ideas of Others by David Kord Murray.

I reread this recently. Borrowing Brilliance demystifies the process of creativity and provides a process to use for innovation. This is one of my all time favorite business oriented books.

Post: #42

Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer's Manual of the Fifteenth Century, by Richard Kieckhefer.

This was an interesting book. Essentially, it is a partial translation, with a great deal of commentary and analysis, of an old grimoire found in the Bavarian State Library. The full latin text is appended.

Kieckhefer is a professor at Northwestern, who has written quite a bit about the history of magical and religious practices. One of his major themes seems to be that necromancy, that is, magic which utilizes forces which are specifically demonic (as understood within the context of a Christian milieu), was was almost entirely the province of a kind of clerical underground, existing within the church but of course not endorsed by it.

Two things that may be of interest to this forum jumped out at me.

First, the famous Inquisition, and thus the witch trials, were originally efforts to root out exactly this kind of heresy from within the Catholic church. That the ensuing hysteria (allegedly) disproportionately targeted women is interesting in light of this. Personally, I'm inclined to see that as a confluence of two factors: one, the use of women as easy targets to shift attention from the corruption of the Church by the authorities within it, and two, the fact that it was women (or rather, girls) who were doing most of the accusing, in much the same way that women today are the ones doing all of the slut shaming we hear about.

Second, a good portion of the book, and according to the author, of the grimoiric literature generally, is devoted to practices intended to (somehow) coerce women into having sex with men, presumably with the magician himself. By our standards today, this strikes me as the approximate equivalent of putting something in a woman's drink. With all the discussion on this forum about the state of the world, the dating scene, and the thirst of men, it's nice to know that 500 years ago, there was such thirst that some men would literally (from their perspective) traffic with demons in order to get laid.

All in all, an interesting read.

Post: #43

Just finished Cities of the Plain, the third and final book of Cormac McCarthy's The Border Trilogy.
Truly fantastic, I can't believe it's over now.

Post: #44

Great to see quite a few of us digging McCarthy. I just put down Blood Meridian.

"Wrinkle not thy sable brow at me, my friend. All will be known to you at last. To you as to every man."
-The Judge-

Post: #45

Last 2 weeks:

Big Short- Michael Lewis
Wall Street Meat- Andy Kessler
Great Crash of 1929 - John Galbraith
Running Money- Andy Kessler
Damm Right! Biography of Charlie Munger- Janet Lowe
Poor Charlies Almanack- Charlie Munger
Philistines at the Hedgerow: Passion and Property in the Hamptons- Steven Gaines

Currently reading:
High Financier: The life and times of Sigmund Warburg
Latticework by Robert Hagstrom
Investing for the Long Term 5ed by Jeremy Siegel
Panic by Michale Lewis

I've also read tons of 10-k annual reports, but I guess that doesnt count. I probably read between 500-750 pages/day

Post: #46

The circle by dave eggers ... One of the best books I've ever read (as a lawyer I read a lot) and somewhat red pill.

Post: #47

Just finished Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. I found it to be a difficult read, despite it being it a short book, because of the style of English it was written. Perhaps the particular translation I was reading is what made it a difficult read. There were some nuggets of wisdom scattered throughout the book though. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more had I had a different translation.

Post: #48

(01-19-2015 03:23 AM)DVY Wrote:  Last 2 weeks:

Big Short- Michael Lewis
Wall Street Meat- Andy Kessler
Great Crash of 1929 - John Galbraith
Running Money- Andy Kessler
Damm Right! Biography of Charlie Munger- Janet Lowe
Poor Charlies Almanack- Charlie Munger
Philistines at the Hedgerow: Passion and Property in the Hamptons- Steven Gaines

Currently reading:
High Financier: The life and times of Sigmund Warburg
Latticework by Robert Hagstrom
Investing for the Long Term 5ed by Jeremy Siegel
Panic by Michale Lewis

I've also read tons of 10-k annual reports, but I guess that doesnt count. I probably read between 500-750 pages/day

How fast do you read? How long does it take you to read that much?

Post: #49

Gone Girl.

Great book. I flew through it.

Post: #50

These