Read these books or go to hell.

Pirate1019 · Post by **Pirate1019** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 12:08 am

We've been reading/watching Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew in English. Personally I find it funny, but everybody else bitches about it being hard.

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 7:20 pm

Quite true Rando. I still haven't finished art of war, all my reading has been for school. But I will pick up God Delusion soon

http://www.avclub.com/content/feature/1 ... negut_said

"The only difference between Bush and Hitler is that Hitler was elected" pwnage

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 9:20 am

Randorama · Post by **Randorama** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 12:50 pm

Neon wrote:http://www.avclub.com/content/videocracy/955

It didn't devolve into the usual shouting match but God, this still annoyed the fuck out of me. Slick Willy with his usual mix of bullshit and lies and Dawkins didn't really attack some of his arguments sufficiently. Apparently he's unfamiliar with the O'Reilly Factor and how debate is supposed to be conducted on that show. Lucky bastard.

But this is not a "debate" section, nor the fair and balanced 5 minutes of O'Reilly barking generic accusations can seriously move some skeptic and make him avoid "The God delusion".
I take for granted that the ones who see O'Reilly need reinforcement of their positions, not elucidations of possible and different points of view, let alone the empirically validated ones.

If anything there can be a breach - the book is quite successful in sales and it may change people's ideas. The risk is losing one's own talibans (or members of the hive), hence the attempt at portraying Dawkins as a dangerous individual like Hitler and other non-sequitur arguments. Has been O'Reilly successful? One can only wonder.

In the meanwhile, though, I'm reading "Formal Concept Analysis", or: how to solve one's problems with lattices. Not a book that can be labelled as "easy, relaxing reading", but no pain no gain.

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 8:14 pm

Wanted to resurrect this thread:

A sourcebook for the Biological Sciences (Morholt, Brandwein) 3rd edition:
Hopelessly out of print (expect to pay ~$100 or more) for perhaps the most essential book any biology teacher could own (could be very useful for any student of biology as well!) Imagine all the best teachers of biology with every great lab they've ever done and every bit of wisdom they could possibly impart with you available at your fingertips. If every given field has its own bible, this is it for the biologist! Own it (ye biologist) or go to hell!

The Ancestor's Tale (Richard Dawkins):
This book is a sort of thrill ride for biologists as Dawkins works his way backwards through our evolutionary tree, using each branching point as an opportunity to expound on something new and exciting in biology. True, this sometimes reads more like a blog than a science book about natural history, but sharing much of his sentiments, its hard to feel too thrown off by the occasional digression into the politics of creationism or the war on terror. Looking past that, the book presents a huge amount of insights and makes for a compelling, well written monster (coming in somewhere around 600 pages.) It is about time that natural history became exciting again!

Pirate1019 · Post by **Pirate1019** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 7:32 pm

I'm reading the illustrated screenplay for I, Robot. The good one by Harlen Ellison, not the one with with Will Smith. It's the greatest Science Fiction movie never made.

PaCrappa · Post by **PaCrappa** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 12:47 am

I've been reading Philip K Dick's short stories. He's one of my favorite authors of fiction.

Pa

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 1:07 pm

Currently:

Machiavelli - The Prince and Discourses (all in one book, with a nice introduction and best of all, nice-feeling pages)
Sun Tzu's Art of War (never finished it before it was due)
Jared Diamond - Collapse: How societies choose to fail or succeed
K Foundation Burn a Million Quid - Goddamn, I can't believe the library had this. Book about how the KLF burnt a million British pounds and why

I'm still wondering whether anyone has read any Robert Greene. 33 Laws of Power, Art of Seduction etc. His blog is at www.powerseductionandwar.com

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 1:20 pm

Collapse was okay, but he pretty much makes the same point in every chapter, it's really not necessary to read the whole thing, just read the intro and conclusion and 2 civilizations and you're good to go. Maybe also the chapter on why Japan didn't fail. I only read the whole thing cuz I had the flu and didn't have anything else to do. Guns Germs & Steel was overall better.

The only people who take Sun Tzu serious are management gurus and neocon defence department advisors.

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 3:46 pm

The only people who take Sun Tzu serious are management gurus and neocon defence department advisors.

lol, even the title sounds so hardcore and macho and badass, if I repeat it enough times I feel my chest hair getting longer. Then again it's sort of arty by way of its antithetical-ness

Greene is a fan of this and Machiavelli, very strategic fella. It's a new way of thinking to me. I haven't decided to approve or disapprove yet (I am sure R. Greene waits for this with baited breath). I think I actually don't want anyone to influence me now and I'll just wait and think on it awhile

Call me pretentious but I also love Shakespeare and I've just bought a nice copy of Othello. I need the geek footnotes to be able to understand what the fuck people are saying half the time, of course.

PaCrappa · Post by **PaCrappa** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 4:39 pm

The Art of War is another thing that gets almost universal praise that I find to be way overrated. There was a time when I felt that I was getting alot out of it and I read several versions and still own at least two of them, maybe three.

At any rate I feel that the Tao Teh Ching is a work far more applicable to the life of the average human. I've had at least ten copies of that book and they always get borrowed and never returned. If you've not read the Tao and are interested I strongly suggest that you stay away from all the silly honkie training wheel type "Tao of Pooh" bullshit.

On a side note the Tao got me laid one time! I let a girl I didn't know too well borrow it and she decided if that's what I was into she needed a piece. Good times!

Pa

Acid King · Post by **Acid King** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 4:59 pm

Currently reading Cities of the Red Night by William S Burroughs.

PaCrappa wrote:
At any rate I feel that the Tao Teh Ching is a work far more applicable to the life of the average human.

Quite fucking true. Every copy I've ever bought of that book I wound up giving away. Stuff like that has to spread around.

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 5:21 pm

some of my favorites:

-Catcher in the rye
-i am legend (best vampire story i've read, matheson is amazing)
-brass (new author helen walsh, extremely perverse, but i thought it was a damn fine book)
-lullaby - chuck pahlaniuk (or however you spell his name) - great stuff
------>this book twists like i never could have expected
-snow crash - can't get enough about it, it starts out like a thin sci fi novel and by midway through the book, it is almost literally, about everything
-jacob two two and the hooded fang- something about this book stays with me, all the way from childhood - too bad the illustrations suck now
-tacky the penguin- fucking hilarious

Never_Scurred · Post by **Never_Scurred** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 5:36 pm

Neon wrote: Greene is a fan of this and Machiavelli, very strategic fella. It's a new way of thinking to me. I haven't decided to approve or disapprove yet (I am sure R. Greene waits for this with baited breath). I think I actually don't want anyone to influence me now and I'll just wait and think on it awhile

I think you meant the 48 Laws of Power. Pretty good book if you can take much of it in the proper context. Have you read it?

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 10:12 am

Never_Scurred wrote:
Neon wrote: Greene is a fan of this and Machiavelli, very strategic fella. It's a new way of thinking to me. I haven't decided to approve or disapprove yet (I am sure R. Greene waits for this with baited breath). I think I actually don't want anyone to influence me now and I'll just wait and think on it awhile
I think you meant the 48 Laws of Power. Pretty good book if you can take much of it in the proper context. Have you read it?

Nah I haven't managed to find a single one of his books. I think you're right though, 48 laws of power, and the 33 rules of war, or something like that. I'd have to look it up.

At any rate I feel that the Tao Teh Ching is a work far more applicable to the life of the average human.

The Taoism stuff has interested me the most so far in Art of War. I'll have to look into this one fersure.

szycag · Post by **szycag** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 10:19 am

Reading "Fire in the Valley" a book about the history of the personal computer. I'm hoping it will inspire me to do something awesome and unthought of that will make me a lot of money, but for now it's just really interesting.

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 2:34 pm

PaCrappa wrote: On a side note the Tao got me laid one time! I let a girl I didn't know too well borrow it and she decided if that's what I was into she needed a piece. Good times!

Pa

Which particular translation got you laid?

PaCrappa · Post by **PaCrappa** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 4:06 pm

Well it was 93 or 94 when it happened so it's a bit foggy. It was definitely published by Shambhala. I thought that it was translated by Thomas Cleary but when I look in the flap of this other Shambhala book I have sitting around it only lists a translation by John CH Wu. I guess that must be the one? I should really go buy another just to read.

Pa

doctorx0079 · Post by **doctorx0079** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 7:50 pm

szycag wrote:Reading "Fire in the Valley" a book about the history of the personal computer. I'm hoping it will inspire me to do something awesome and unthought of that will make me a lot of money, but for now it's just really interesting.

That's an awesome book. Also check out Hackers and The Soul of A New Machine.

SheSaidDutch · Post by **SheSaidDutch** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:52 pm

Currently reading- Allen Ginsberg:Howl and collected poems. I've got a shed load of books waiting to be read, yet I've been slacking as of late :cry:

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:59 am

"Everything I Learned About Film-making I Learned From the Toxic Avenger"
by Lloyd Kaufman

goddamn hilarious

landshark · Post by **landshark** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 2:30 am

Get In The Van, by Henry Rollins
http://www.amazon.com/Get-Van-Road-Blac ... 418&sr=1-7

Excellent/fun read.

Joe T. · Post by **Joe T.** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 12:48 am

This was a good thread!

Just to add, in the past month I've been on a Neal Stephenson kick, reading Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon. Also just read Roger Zelazny, The Dream Master (picked this up basically because I'm a big Lebbeus Woods admirer).

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 1:25 am

I hate reading my old posts. So embarrassing.

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 1:41 am

Cormac McCarthy - The Road, Blood Meridian

maxlords · Post by **maxlords** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 1:45 am

Here's some of what I've been reading lately:

Trading in Danger by Elizabeth Moon (military sci-fi)
Turn Coat by Jim Butcher (Book 11 of Dresden Files...AWESOME)
Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazney (just insanely good)
The Complete Robot by Issac Asimov (part of this was the basis for I, Robot)
Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series)
Assorted comics, including the Morrison JLA and the Shultz Superman run, some 80s Fantastic Four, and a few other odss and ends

And some of my flat out all time favorites:
Magician by Raymond E. Feist (fantasy)
Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind (fantasy)
Midshipman's Hope by David Feintuch (military sci-fi)
Legend by David Gemmell (fantasy)
Dawnthief by James Barclay (fantasy)
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
The Misenchanted Sword by Lawrence Watt-Evans
Interstellar Pig by William Sleator
Singularity by William Sleator
The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane by Robert E Howard
The Cthulu Cycle by H.P. Lovecraft
Watch Me by A.J. Hoyt
Mirror Shades: The Cyberpunk Anthology by Bruce Sterling
Snow Crash by Neal Stephanson
Vurt by Jeff Noon
Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (it is QUITE good and completely bug-fuck nuts)
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
The Man Who Never Missed by Steve Perry (this book...DAYUM)
The Book of Words trilogy by J.V. Jones
The Gilded Chain by David Duncan
Titus Crow by Brian Lumley
The Thief of Always by Clive Barker
The Books of Blood by Clive Barker
A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton
The Seventh Scroll by Wilbur Smith
Subterranean by James Rollins (so-so but the other books he wrote got better I suppose...it's all low-brow action adventure)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Relic (and the following books) by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Microserfs by Douglas Copeland
Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn

I'm sure there's lots more but my brain is starting to congeal. I pretty much read sci-fi and fantasy with a smattering of mystery, horror, and action adventure. I read the rare non-fiction book...but not often.

CStarFlare · Post by **CStarFlare** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 3:14 am

Currently going through Dan Brown's Angels and Demons. It's fun, but I don't see what the big fuss is about. I grabbed The Da Vinci Code along with it, so I'll probably move on to that eventually.

Almost done with Leroy Aarons' Prayers for Bobby. Ordered it after I caught the end of the movie on Lifetime.

I was aware of its existence before, but was never all that interested. I'm enjoying it (is enjoying the right word for a book like this?), but every other chapter it jumps between the periods before and after Bobby's suicide and frankly I'm finding the after more interesting (probably has something to with the fact that the subjects of those chapters are still alive).

After this will probably be Hannibal Rising or that new Artemis Fowl book I haven't read yet.

emphatic · Post by **emphatic** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 8:17 am

Rant - Chuck Palahniuk. Read it or go to hell. Of course, most of his other books are excellent as well, like Survivor or Snuff. Also, most books my James Ellroy are a must.

Acid King · Post by **Acid King** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:36 pm

Our Right to Drugs by Thomas Szasz. Basically outlines how we lost our medical right to drugs and self medication. He argues from a free market libertarian perspective so if you're a filthy socialist you may disagree with his logic but it's an interesting book. Recommended even for filthy socialists.

The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian. Anyone interested in homebrewing should buy this book.

Razor Wire Pubic Hair by Carlton Mellick III. Mindfuck, bizarre, warped story about a living hermaphroditic sex doll. Zombies, giant monster vaginas, what more do you need to know?

damakable · Post by **damakable** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 5:11 pm

I'm coming into this late but I absolutely could not stand Ayn Rand when I started to read Atlas Shrugged. I got about 50 pages into it and had to throw it out the window. I've never actually felt so repulsed by someone's ideology before. Besides which she has no writing style worth mentioning and her motives in writing seemed pretty transparent. Keep in mind I had no idea who she was when I bought the book, I just started to get into it when something started to feel kind of fishy. It reads like a morality play -- because that's what it is. So I looked her up and came across The Virtue of Selfishness and her self-described 'Objectivism' which really doesn't seem to be a very objective assessment of reality to me. Something about her makes me cringe and shiver.

Now, we don't have a Libertarian party up here in Canada (as has been pointed out, Objectivism is not Libertarianism anyhow) but I've got a bunch of lame anarchist friends and might be labeled a filthy socialist by some but that doesn't feel right to me either. I'm all for civil liberties and practicality and I know that Rand has a different meaning of the word 'selfishness', not explicitly encouraging people to be selfish at the expense of others, but something about the way it pans out suggests to me much of her philosophy is merely pretext for more sinister ulterior motives. Even if Ayn Rand herself had restraint and respect for others, many of her followers use Objectivism to rationalize petty behaviour. I suppose I should force myself to read more by her if I want to form a proper critique, though.

Anyhow it's hard for me to sum up my own politics and I can't deny that there is a grain of truth in most ideologies. Every one then interprets that differently, making things that much more confusing. The problems arise when you take that grain of truth and extend it to its logical conclusion... and/or set its rules in stone.

Speaking of logical conclusions, Arthur Koestler's novel Darkness at Noon explores that topic rather well, in relation to communism. I take it Rand was commenting on communism as well but they have very different ways of doing it.

Tomorrow I finish exams and will have more time to read things other than math textbooks. I'm also taking two summer courses to fill in my electives: Contemporary Lit. and Existentialism -- so I should be doing plenty of reading!