SUMMER BOOK THREAD

[Koyuki]

Has anyone read "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss? Finished it up the other day. Excellent read.

Was an amazing book, can't wait for the second one.

[Fistandantilus]

Has anyone read "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss? Finished it up the other day. Excellent read.

Gah! Don't remind me, it's so good and it makes me sad that the second one keeps getting delayed

[Brill Weave]

I just recently started reading the Dirk Pitt series by Clive Cussler. Also rereading the Zombie Survival Guide and Tragic Sense of Life.

[oldoldman]

If you have never read "Beyond Freedom and Dignity" by B.F. Skinner you should.
Gonna be reading lots of Physics books to get refreshed for my college transfer over the summer.

[Penthesilea]

Gah! Don't remind me, it's so good and it makes me sad that the second one keeps getting delayed

http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/blog/...0px-750888.jpg

Patrick Rothfuss - Blog

[Fistandantilus]

Yeah I just saw that yesterday, his blog is hilarious.

[Jefe]

I liek readin' them books. Classical literature (Philosophy) is my stuff though, a few authors I strongly recommend:

• St. Agustine - Ontological Argument
• Dostoyevsky - Rebellion
• Pascal - Pensees
• Camus - The Absurd
• Søren Kierkegaard - Fear and Trembling, Either/Or
• Hobbes - The Leviathan
• Machiavelli - The Prince

Other philosophers like: Descartes, Leibniz, Hume, Kant, etc. The Leviathan was fucking boring though ;x

[Moridam]

If you have never read "Beyond Freedom and Dignity" by B.F. Skinner you should.
Gonna be reading lots of Physics books to get refreshed for my college transfer over the summer.

What in particular do you find appealing about Freedom and Dignity?

I'll admit I haven't read it, but then I haven't seen much of a reason to. My impression is that it was Skinner attempting to use his scientific clout to promote his particular brand of hard-line behaviorism, which had very little credibility. It's hard to entertain the man's speculations when he so eagerly dismisses the notion that conscious experience (mental states, cognition, personality, etc.) could be a causative factor in behavior, especially given the complete lack of evidence that view was based on.

[thestalkmore]

Rereading my entire Chuch Palahniuk collection waiting for Snuff to come. I'm praying it's going to be better than Rant.

Yea, I did not enjoy Rant very much.

[oldoldman]

What in particular do you find appealing about Freedom and Dignity?

I'll admit I haven't read it, but then I haven't seen much of a reason to. My impression is that it was Skinner attempting to use his scientific clout to promote his particular brand of hard-line behaviorism, which had very little credibility. It's hard to entertain the man's speculations when he so eagerly dismisses the notion that conscious experience (mental states, cognition, personality, etc.) could be a causative factor in behavior, especially given the complete lack of evidence that view was based on.

In the book Skinner addresses the inherent flaw in the theory is one could never fully know all of the micro factors that determine the outcome of an event and in lieu of that fact free will and experience could be denoted as contributive to the determined effect. One can argue that if the factors are deterministic that free will becomes irrelevant. I've always looked at it in reverse, there is no way I could prove to you that something you are about do does not involve cognitive free will based on prior events. I could however look back in your life and show you that each event only happened one way, which means it did not or more importantly could not happen any other way withing this reality. Looking at that it would suffice to say that you had no choice but to do it the way that it was done thusly negating any free will you feel you had at the time.

Sorry, summer reading thread is no place to get philosophical and I'm not sure that all makes sense. 4am being what 4am is to a burned out student who just finished a term paper.

[Beckwin]

Been doing a bit of reading recently, all pretty good stuff:

Keep the Aspidistra Flying, George Orwell

It's about a poor, sexually and generally frustrated poet named Gordon Comstock who has declared a personal war on money. Sad, sweet, and funny. A quick read too. I really enjoyed it, and sometimes I saw scary/funny parallels between myself and Mr. Comstock, which made it all the more entertaining.


Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Nothing I can say will really do this justice. Marquez is probably the best author we've had in the past 100-200 years. And whoever does his translations is amazingly talented as well. This is a story of seemingly unrequited love and how the body and mind are connected. It also explores the horizon of what love is and can be, from sickness to plurality to simple desire. Absolutely beautifully written, and has a distinctly Marquesian narrative and chronological structure. Read this fucking book.


Lord Jim, Joeseph Conrad

My least favorite of the list, but not a terrible book. It's a romance in the vein of maybe... Heart of Darkness, but with less depth, in my opinion. Starts slow, but has an interesting style of storytelling and the narrative really does turn into a bit of a page turner.


Currently Reading: The Last Temptation of Christ, Nikos Kazantzakis

Really enjoying it so far. Basically, this is the Kazantzakis's telling of the lost years of Jesus Christ- you know, that pesky time period between 3 and 33 for our lord and saviour. I don't find it to be sacriligeous at all; however it is very humanistic. Jesus is a nervous wreck, tornmented by his father's communication and his own lot in life- he's the only Jew carpenter that will build crosses to crucify heroic Zealots and would-be prophets and saviors. Judas is a burly ginger tough-guy rebel. Virgin Mary hates her life, laments over her oddball son, and is stuck caring for an invalid Joeseph. Mary Magdalene is a busy prostitute who is still longing and bitter over her childhood crush on Jesus. Great book so far; I've never been able to really relate or empathize with Biblical characters before (note: Kazantzakis was a fairly devout Catholic by the time he wrote this, iirc)

[ZarakiKujata]

Yea, I did not enjoy Rant very much.

Why all the hate on Rant? I thought the commentary in it was some of his best, and his trademark surprise was alot better in it than in Snuff.. I wouldn't say its my favorite of his books but its definitely better than Invisible Monsters/Survivor/Diary imo, and even those were amazing.

Pygmy sounds awesome btw

Anyways, I just finished reading:

Sewing Circles of Herat by Christina Lamb
It's a nonfiction book by a London Sunday Times journalist who has been in/out of Afghanistan/Pakistan since the Soviets were there. It tells both her story of first getting there and what she saw with the mujaheddin, and parallels it with her return to see post-Taliban Afghanistan, and the defiance towards them she learned of. The book also has some really interesting encounters with Hamid Karzai, Ismail Khan, the head of the Haqqani Madrassa (where the Taliban was born), Zahir Shah, head of the Pakistani ISI and others as well as some interesting things she learned about Mullah Omar, Bin Laden and others she doesnt interview. A definite must read for anybody who wants to better understand whats going on in Afghanistan.

Flock of Dodos by Barrett Brown and Jon Alston
Funny book by a comedian and sociologist that pokes fun at Intelligent Design, its history and the general fucktards that push this/creationism through history