Reading that opens the mind - Books

[Mr. Sauerkraut]

these were mindbreaking experiences to me:

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Robert-PIRSIG/dp/B000KRRAII/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1294143802&sr=8-2-catcorr]Amazon.com: Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: Robert M. PIRSIG: Books[/ame]

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Memnoch-Devil-Anne-Rice/dp/B001E3J6CA/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294143855&sr=1-1]Amazon.com: Memnoch the Devil: Anne Rice: Books[/ame]

 

[Mr. Sauerkraut]

my deepest sorry

the best book i´ve ever read:

mindbreaking in every way. actual than ever. that´s what i call a heart-hurtener

 

[midcan5]

This was an interesting find as it is similar to Judt's book noted in quote, it seems maybe that cold hearted greed is wearing on people and they are finally beginning to see we are all on this spaceship together. Now can someone get that message to the republican party?

The little red book that swept France - Europe, World - The Independent

"In a New Year message Mr Hessel, who survived Nazi concentration camps to become a French diplomat, said he was "profoundly touched" by the success of his book. Just as he "cried out" against Nazism in the 1940s, he said, young people today should "cry out against the complicity between politicians and economic and financial powers" and "defend our democratic rights acquired over two centuries"."

If you read only one book this year read Tony Judt's book noted below.

The Year in Reading ? Arts ? Utne Reader

Best New Books 2010 - The Privileges Review - Esquire

'Ill Fares the Land' by Tony Judt - check remainders if hard cover price is too steep.

"Judt, who died this year from Lou Gehrig's disease, leaves behind this inspiring final volume. If you're looking for bipartisan bullshit, look elsewhere. If you're looking for the anti-Glenn Beck, it's here."

 

[midcan5]

I've read 26 of these and have attempted to read about 8 others without luck. I agree with many, but a few seem frivolous and too ideological or science fictional for my taste or patience. I was glad to see my favorite, and the best book of all time on the list. But where is Sam?

Information is Beautiful on the books everyone must read | Books | guardian.co.uk

btw Recently reading Kripke and am thinking about starting Zeitoun.

neat site: Information Is Beautiful | Ideas, issues, knowledge, data - visualized!

 

[midcan5]

Wingnut Alert: Please Read.

The information below contains ideas that may be hazardous to your ideological perspective. Please read no further if complex ideas cause unnecessary mental turmoil.

reading now

This is one of those rare books that can alter the way you see and make up your world. "Ironically, contemporary philosophy almost never asks the philosophical questions that matter most deeply to our everyday lives. In fact those meaning of life questions have been deliberately avoided. Now, Owen Flanagan brings his trademark clarity, breadth of scientific knowledge, and wit to bear on questions that have seemed too big for analytic philosophy -- what is the relation between religion and science, and what can we do to lead fulfilling and meaningful lives in a material world defined by scientific inquiry? He includes an exceptionally well-informed and thoughtful account of the Buddhist tradition, and empirical findings from 'positive psychology', as well as philosophical arguments. This book is a distinctive and compelling combination of skeptical rationality and gentle affirmation of the enchantment of the everyday." Alison Gopnik, Professor of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Really-Hard-Problem-Material-Bradford/dp/0262512483/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Really Hard Problem: Meaning in a Material World (Bradford Books) (9780262512480): Owen Flanagan: Books[/ame]


These look excellent - but not read - for early American history buffs

Pauline Maier was on cspan's in-depth recently and the interview and discussion was fascinating stuff. See cspan link, I usually dvr these shows as they are three hours but comparable to a good seminar.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/American-Scripture-Making-Declaration-Independence/dp/0679779086/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence (9780679779087): Pauline Maier: Books[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Ratification-Americans-Debate-Constitution-1787-1788/dp/B004Q7E0UY/ref=pd_sim_b_1]Amazon.com: Ratification: Americans Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788: Pauline Maier: Books[/ame]
In Depth with Pauline Maier - C-SPAN Video Library


Must reads - if you want some excellent (mind altering) summer NF reading - just a few links, check em out if interested.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Glory-Dream-Narrative-History-1932-1972/dp/0553345893/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Glory and the Dream: A Narrative History of America, 1932-1972 (9780553345896): William Manchester: Books[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Mind-Intellectual-History-Century/dp/0060084383/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Modern Mind: An Intellectual History of the 20th Century (9780060084387): Peter Watson: Books[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Rhetoric-Reaction-Perversity-Futility-Jeopardy/dp/067476868X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Rhetoric of Reaction: Perversity, Futility, Jeopardy (9780674768680): Albert O. Hirschman: Books[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Passions-Interests-Albert-Hirschman/dp/0691015988/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Passions and the Interests (9780691015989): Albert O. Hirschman: Books[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Moral-Landscape-Science-Determine-Values/dp/1439171211/ref=pd_sim_b_10]Amazon.com: The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values (9781439171219): Sam Harris: Books[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Consider-Lobster-Essays-Foster-Wallace/dp/0316013323/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: Consider the Lobster and Other Essays (9780316013321): David Foster Wallace: Books[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Whys-Philosophical-Scrivener-Martin-Gardner/dp/0312206828/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener (9780312206826): Martin Gardner: Books[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Language-Older-Than-Words/dp/1931498555/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: A Language Older Than Words (9781931498555): Derrick Jensen: Books[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Culture-Make-Believe-Derrick-Jensen/dp/1931498571/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Culture of Make Believe (9781931498579): Derrick Jensen: Books[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/What-Orwell-Didnt-Know-Propaganda/dp/1586485601/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: What Orwell Didn't Know: Propaganda and the New Face of American Politics (9781586485603): Andras Szanto, Orville Schell: Books[/ame]


"The wise man reads both books and life itself." Lin Yutang

"A book is a mirror: When a monkey looks in, no apostle can look out." anon

"The book solves nothing, but may clear up the ideas of one or two people, a little." Sidgwick on a great book, his "Methods."

 

[midcan5]

I have been reading Derrick Jensen again this summer and lots of essays on history, politics, and philosophy.

Here are a few books to shake the cobwebs from your minds. Beware these are not for the faint of heart. Jensen is noted too for those who haven't read him yet.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/American-Holocaust-Conquest-New-World/dp/0195085574/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World (9780195085570): David E. Stannard: Books[/ame]


[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Geography-Western-Against-Wilderness/dp/0813519098/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: Beyond Geography: The Western Spirit Against the Wilderness, Revised (9780813519098): Frederick Turner: Books[/ame]


[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Nazi-Doctors-Medical-Psychology-Genocide/dp/0465049052/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing And The Psychology Of Genocide (9780465049059): Robert Jay Lifton: Books[/ame]


Derrick Jensen

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Language-Older-Than-Words/dp/1931498555/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: A Language Older Than Words (9781931498555): Derrick Jensen: Books[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Culture-Make-Believe-Derrick-Jensen/dp/1931498571/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Culture of Make Believe (9781931498579): Derrick Jensen: Books[/ame]


[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Experience-R-D-Laing/dp/039471475X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: Politics of Experience (9780394714752): R.D. Laing: Books[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Social-Construction-Reality-Sociology-Knowledge/dp/0385058985/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge (9780385058988): Peter L. Berger, Thomas Luckmann: Books[/ame]

.

 

[California Girl]

Me thinks someone is trying to impress people with their 'reading list'.

I have just finished an indepth study of 'Green Eggs and Ham'. I found it to be race filled diatribe.

 

[midcan5]

Me thinks someone is trying to impress people with their 'reading list'.

I have just finished an indepth study of 'Green Eggs and Ham'. I found it to be race filled diatribe.

Methinks someone is using their personal intuitive faculty to view midcan's thread on books. Intuition is often right when it is simple stuff, but otherwise often personal and not relevant. Should anyone be interested in intuitive thinking see here: The Marvels And The Flaws Of Intuitive Thinking Edge*master Class 2011 | Conversation | Edge

As for Green Eggs and Ham, were you able to get through it without mommy's help this time? We can discuss its purpose another time.

=======================

American Horse,

This book touches on a discussion we had long ago on the individual and the creation of the individual. I did not read it, life is too short and time too scarce. It was referenced in Peter Watson's "Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud," Watson claims the concept of the individual started in the 18th century with the transition from 'soul' to 'mind.'

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Making-Modern-Self-Identity-Eighteenth-Century/dp/0300121393/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Making of the Modern Self: Identity and Culture in Eighteenth-Century England (9780300121391): Professor Dror Wahrman: Books[/ame]


========================

More stuff for the interested.

memory
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Moonwalking-Einstein-Science-Remembering-Everything/dp/159420229X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316112540&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything (9781594202292): Joshua Foer: Books[/ame]

American mind
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/American-Mind-Interpretation-Thought-Character/dp/0300000464/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The American Mind: An Interpretation of American Thought and Character Since the 1880's (9780300000467): Henry Steele Commager: Books[/ame]

'The Idea of America: Reflections on the Birth of the United States'
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Idea-America-Reflections-United-States/dp/1594202907/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1]Amazon.com: The Idea of America: Reflections on the Birth of the United States (9781594202902): Gordon S. Wood: Books[/ame]

western atheism
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Western-Atheism-History-James-Thrower/dp/1573927562/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: Western Atheism: A Short History (9781573927567): James Thrower: Books[/ame]

Religion
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Religion-Classical-Theories-James-Thrower/dp/0878407510/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: Religion: The Classical Theories (9780878407514): James Thrower: Books[/ame]

=====================

I often wonder what would fill eternity? This list is a start. The Greatest Great Books List Ever | Robert Lindsay


"What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley wrote in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions." In 1984 Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us...This book is about the possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right." Neil Postman 'Amusing Ourselves to Death'

 

[American Horse]

American Horse,

This book touches on a discussion we had long ago on the individual and the creation of the individual. I did not read it, life is too short and time too scarce. It was referenced in Peter Watson's "Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud," Watson claims the concept of the individual started in the 18th century with the transition from 'soul' to 'mind.'

Amazon.com: The Making of the Modern Self: Identity and Culture in Eighteenth-Century England (9780300121391): Professor Dror Wahrman: Books

Thanks for remembering and the mention; I just ordered it

 

[midcan5]

The right wing in America (actually everywhere the right exists) has always tried to censor ideas. 'Slaughterhouse-Five' was a recent victim. 'Human Events' once listed books that should be banned and included Darwin among others. Hard to imagine.

I have only purchased and read a bit of Stefan Collini's book so I cannot say if all these books are worth a read. Judge for yourself if a topic interests you. They are short like Oxford's short introductions but hopefully excellent information in a time when there is too much information, too little time, and too much BS.

Book Series: Manifestos for the 21st Century


""Wherever they burn books," wrote Heinrich Heine in 1823, “they will end up burning people.” Predictably, Heine was one of the writers whose books were flung into the flames by the SA in Berlin a little over a century later, along with those by Marx, Freud, Maxim Gorky, Stefan Zweig and many others. As these four short books on censorship – of the word, the body, the moving image and sexuality – make clear, freedom of expression in all its forms has always been deeply threatening, not only to totalitarian regimes, but to society itself. But fashions change and it is precisely these constantly shifting and evolving forms of perceived threat that make this series, subtitled rather portentously Manifestos for the 21st Century, so fascinating." Caroline Moorehead - Manifestos for the 21st Century | New Humanist

So It Goes: Mo. School District Reconsiders Vonnegut Book Ban « The Wall of Separation


Another interesting topic. Check out the mp3.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Folly-Fools-Logic-Deceit-Self-Deception/dp/0465027555/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Folly of Fools: The Logic of Deceit and Self-Deception in Human Life (9780465027552): Robert Trivers: Books[/ame]


http://cdn.conversationsnetwork.org/ITC.PopTech2005-RobertTrivers-2005.10.22.mp3

 

[J.E.D]

The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

by David Simon and Ed Burns

The book covers a year in the life of an inner city drug market at Fayette & Monroe Streets in Baltimore. Simon and Burns spent over a year interviewing and following around the people who lived on the Fayette & Monroe corner. Although written like a novel, the book is nonfiction; it uses the real names of those people and recounts actual events. It centers mostly around the lives of Gary McCullough, a drug addict, his ex-wife Fran Boyd, also an addict, and their son DeAndre McCullough, a high school student who begins to sell drugs. The book is a look at the effects of drug addiction, the drug trade, and the war on drugs on an urban neighborhood, as well as being an examination of the sociological factors which underlie the modern drug trade.

 

[midcan5]

It is a measure of the accomplishments of FDR that the republicans are still fighting him and he has been dead a long time. The video below was on cspan's book TV recently and is an excellent review of our greatest and most accomplished modern president.

"Michael Hiltzik presents a history of the New Deal. The author examines the origins of Franklin D. Roosevelt's plans to confront the nation's economic depression and the President's relationships with his inner-circle of advisors, which ranged across the social spectrum."

U.S. History - "The New Deal: A Modern History" - Book TV

"The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits,” Roosevelt continued. “These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and our fellow men." Quote from link below

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/New-Deal-Modern-History/dp/1439154481/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8[/ame]


Must reads for the educated citizen:

'The Glory and the Dream: A Narrative History of America, 1932-1972' William Manchester
'The Rhetoric of Reaction: Perversity, Futility, Jeopardy' by Albert O. Hirschman
'Ill Fares the Land' by Tony Judt
'The Culture of Contentment' by John Kenneth Galbraith
'The Modern Mind: An Intellectual History of the 20th Century' by Peter Watson
'The Sense of Reality: Studies in Ideas and Their History' by Isaiah Berlin
'Conjectures and Refutations' by Karl R. Popper
'There's No Such Thing As Free Speech: And It's a Good Thing, Too" by Stanley Fish
'Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud' by Peter Watson

 

[Ringel05]

Do not take life too seriously; you'll never get out of it alive. - by Hubbard, Elbert.

 

[midcan5]

A few books I want to read in 2012. Amazing how many books there are in the world today and yet so little knowledge?

'The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan' Michael Hastings
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Operators-Terrifying-Inside-Americas-Afghanistan/dp/0399159886/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8[/ame]

The Idea of America: Reflections on the Birth of the United States
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Idea-America-Reflections-United-States/dp/1594202907/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8[/ame]

Science and Human Values
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Science-Human-Values-Jacob-Bronowski/dp/0571241905/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: Science and Human Values (9780571241903): Jacob Bronowski: Books[/ame]

The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes and Its Implications
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Fabric-Reality-Parallel-Universes-Implications/dp/014027541X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes and Its Implications (9780140275414): David Deutsch: Books[/ame]


Fiction, currently reading Vertigo, by W. G. Sebald but reading little fiction today mostly poetry which crosses the threshold.


a few maybes, the good lord willing and the creek don't rise......

the creation of self and the middle class
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Making-Modern-Self-Identity-Eighteenth-Century/dp/0300121393/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Making of the Modern Self: Identity and Culture in Eighteenth-Century England (9780300121391): Professor Dror Wahrman: Books[/ame]

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/American-Mind-Interpretation-Thought-Character/dp/0300000464/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The American Mind: An Interpretation of American Thought and Character Since the 1880's (9780300000467): Henry Steele Commager: Books[/ame]

 

[midcan5]

Summer reading for the thoughtful, wingnuts need read no further corporate momma will give you your thoughts presently.

As corporate propaganda on MSM and especially right wing conservative media such as Fox fail their duty as journalists, a few smart and concerned journalists do the real work. BP spill for real. [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Black-Tide-Devastating-Impact-Spill/dp/0470943378/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: Black Tide: The Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill (9780470943373): Antonia Juhasz: Books[/ame]


"To understand these ideas, we have to understand that story. For that is what conservatism is: a meditation on - and theoretical rendition of - the felt experience of having power, seeing it threatened, and trying to win it back." [ame=http://www.amazon.com/The-Reactionary-Mind-Conservatism-Edmund/dp/0199793743/ref=sr_1_1?s=books]Amazon.com: The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Sarah Palin (9780199793747): Corey Robin: Books[/ame] and for the student of conservatism check out: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/The-Rhetoric-Reaction-Perversity-Futility/dp/067476868X/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Rhetoric of Reaction: Perversity, Futility, Jeopardy (9780674768680): Albert O. Hirschman: Books[/ame]


Brief science pieces that challenge some of our assumptions. [ame=http://www.amazon.com/This-Will-Make-You-Smarter/dp/0062109391/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF]Amazon.com: This Will Make You Smarter: New Scientific Concepts to Improve Your Thinking (9780062109392): John Brockman: Books[/ame]


Another excellent Tony Judt history. [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Twentieth-Century-Tony-Judt/dp/1594203237/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2]Amazon.com: Thinking the Twentieth Century (9781594203237): Tony Judt, Timothy Snyder: Books[/ame]


"Bacevich's Conclusions: It simply makes no sense to pretend the U.S. is promoting a special message in pursuit of a special mission from God. We are merely attempting to cope, and need to admit such. It's time we stop instructing the Chinese, or anyone else, on how to manage their affairs, and it's also time to put away our homemade 'World's Sheriff' badge. The era of ideological fancy is over. It's time to live within reality and within our means." [ame=http://www.amazon.com/The-Short-American-Century-Postmortem/dp/0674064453/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Short American Century: A Postmortem (9780674064454): Andrew J. Bacevich, Jeffry A. Frieden, Akira Iriye, Emily S. Rosenberg, Nikhil Pal Singh, Walter LaFeber, T. J. Jackson Lears, Eugene McCarraher, David M. Kennedy: Books[/ame]


'The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan' Michael Hastings [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Operators-Terrifying-Inside-Americas-Afghanistan/dp/0399159886/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan (9780399159886): Michael Hastings: Books[/ame]


The Idea of America: Reflections on the Birth of the United States. [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Idea-America-Reflections-United-States/dp/1594202907/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Idea of America: Reflections on the Birth of the United States (9781594202902): Gordon S. Wood: Books[/ame]


Science and Human Values. [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Science-Human-Values-Jacob-Bronowski/dp/0571241905/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: Science and Human Values (9780571241903): Jacob Bronowski: Books[/ame]


The creation of the self and the middle class. [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Making-Modern-Self-Identity-Eighteenth-Century/dp/0300121393/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Making of the Modern Self: Identity and Culture in Eighteenth-Century England (9780300121391): Professor Dror Wahrman: Books[/ame]


Another challenging book on morality and ethics from Derek Parfit. [ame=http://www.amazon.com/What-Matters-2-Set/dp/0199265925/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: On What Matters (2 Volume Set) (9780199265923): Derek Parfit: Books[/ame]



"A book is a mirror: When a monkey looks in, no apostle can look out." anon
.

 

[midcan5]

Wingnut Warning: Read no further your formatted knowledge will come shortly from the right wing revisionist teleprompter implanted in your head. Short circuit warning beep beep beep....

What are you reading this summer? I recently finished Ian McEwan's 'Enduring Love' and Jeremy Waldron on hate legislation. Starting 'Invisible Hands: The Making of the Conservative Movement from the New Deal to Reagan,' all worth your time. Saw the books below in various places and wondered if they are worth the time. 'The Swerve' looks interesting.


The Swerve: How the World Became Modern' Stephen Greenblatt [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Swerve-How-World-Became-Modern/dp/0393064476/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Swerve: How the World Became Modern (9780393064476): Stephen Greenblatt: Books[/ame]


'The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution' Francis Fukuyama [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Origins-Political-Order-Prehuman-Revolution/dp/0374227349/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution (9780374227340): Francis Fukuyama: Books[/ame]


This too looks interesting? [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Progress-Ronald-Wright/dp/0786715472/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: A Short History of Progress (9780786715473): Ronald Wright: Books[/ame]


Any readers of John Crowley? "During a summer in the late 1960s I discovered an easy and certain method of predicting the future. Not my own future, the next turn of the card, or market conditions next month or next year, but the future of the world lying far ahead. It was quite simple. All that was needed was to take the reigning assumptions about what the future was likely to hold, and reverse them. Not modify, negate, or question, but reverse. It was self-evident that this was the right method, because so many of the guesses that the past had made about its then future—that is, my own present—had turned out to be not only wrong but the opposite of what came to be instead, the more so the further ahead they had been projected." John Crowley, 'The Next Future'


"I read the relevant policy papers—on health, education, debt, poverty, homeland security, climate change, the extinction of species, the wars of all against all—and I notice that they tend toward a common awareness (dimly grasped but distinctly felt) that a global consumer society, if left to its own devices, must devour the earth. Not with malice aforethought, or as a matter of ideology, but because that is its métier — the scorpion that kills the frog on whose back it is crossing the river because it knows not what else to do." Lewis Lapham 'Ignorance of Things Past'

 

[Mustang]

Wingnut Warning: Read no further your formatted knowledge will come shortly from the right wing revisionist teleprompter implanted in your head. Short circuit warning beep beep beep....

What are you reading this summer? I recently finished Ian McEwan's 'Enduring Love' and Jeremy Waldron on hate legislation. Starting 'Invisible Hands: The Making of the Conservative Movement from the New Deal to Reagan,' all worth your time. Saw the books below in various places and wondered if they are worth the time. 'The Swerve' looks interesting.


The Swerve: How the World Became Modern' Stephen Greenblatt Amazon.com: The Swerve: How the World Became Modern (9780393064476): Stephen Greenblatt: Books


'The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution' Francis Fukuyama Amazon.com: The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution (9780374227340): Francis Fukuyama: Books


This too looks interesting? Amazon.com: A Short History of Progress (9780786715473): Ronald Wright: Books


Any readers of John Crowley? "During a summer in the late 1960s I discovered an easy and certain method of predicting the future. Not my own future, the next turn of the card, or market conditions next month or next year, but the future of the world lying far ahead. It was quite simple. All that was needed was to take the reigning assumptions about what the future was likely to hold, and reverse them. Not modify, negate, or question, but reverse. It was self-evident that this was the right method, because so many of the guesses that the past had made about its then future—that is, my own present—had turned out to be not only wrong but the opposite of what came to be instead, the more so the further ahead they had been projected." John Crowley, 'The Next Future'


"I read the relevant policy papers—on health, education, debt, poverty, homeland security, climate change, the extinction of species, the wars of all against all—and I notice that they tend toward a common awareness (dimly grasped but distinctly felt) that a global consumer society, if left to its own devices, must devour the earth. Not with malice aforethought, or as a matter of ideology, but because that is its métier — the scorpion that kills the frog on whose back it is crossing the river because it knows not what else to do." Lewis Lapham 'Ignorance of Things Past'

I read "The Swerve." It's the first time I read a nonfiction book BEFORE it won a Pulitzer Prize. Good book. I might review it here.

 

[midcan5]

Re: election 2012 and the issue of race.

Finished "Invisible Hands" read it read it read it......


"There was a time, not so very long ago, when perfectly rational people ran the Republican Party. So how did the party of Lincoln become the party of lunatics? That is what this book aims to answer. Fear not, the Dems come in for their share of tough talk — they are zombies, a party of the living dead." Mike Lofgren 'The Party Is Over: How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless, and the Middle Class Got Shafted' (see down too) [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Party-Over-Republicans-Democrats-Useless/dp/0670026263/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Party Is Over: How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless, and the Middle Class Got Shafted (9780670026265): Mike Lofgren: Books[/ame]


As I read more of our political history I am amazed at the impact of the civil rights movement in the sixties.

"Gerstle argues that the civil rights movement and Vietnam broke the liberal nation apart, and his analysis of this upheaval leads him to assess Reagan's and Clinton's attempts to resurrect nationalism. Can the United States ever live up to its civic creed? For anyone who views racism as an aberration from the liberal premises of the republic, this book is must reading." [ame=http://www.amazon.com/American-Crucible-Nation-Twentieth-Century/dp/book-citations/0691102775]Amazon.com: American Crucible: Race and Nation in the Twentieth Century (9780691102771): Gary Gerstle: Books[/ame]


Barbara Stanwyck: "We're both rotten!" Fred MacMurray: "Yeah - only you're a little more rotten." -"Double Indemnity"

"Those lines of dialogue from a classic film noir sum up the state of the two political parties in contemporary America. Both parties are rotten - how could they not be, given the complete infestation of the political system by corporate money on a scale that now requires a presidential candidate to raise upwards of a billion dollars to be competitive in the general election? Both parties are captives to corporate loot. The main reason the Democrats' health care bill will be a budget buster once it fully phases in is the Democrats' rank capitulation to corporate interests - no single-payer system, in order to mollify the insurers; and no negotiation of drug prices, a craven surrender to Big Pharma."

Goodbye to All That: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult

 

[midcan5]

FYI for the politics wonks, the Fall Lapham's quarterly covers your favorite topic. Diverse material and always interesting.

Lapham&#8217s Quarterly : Politics

Lapham&#8217s Quarterly

 

[g5000]

What are these ... books? Some sort of ancient tablets?

"Books" are non-volatile storage mediums.

my deepest sorry

the best book i´ve ever read:

mindbreaking in every way. actual than ever. that´s what i call a heart-hurtener

I prefer Cannery Row. I am such a fan of that book, someone gave me a first edition as a Christmas gift.

.