Books

[Dick Sirloin]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090422/ap_on_re_us/us_rel_religion_today

Must read this...

 

[MajestikMøøse]

Today, rather than studying for my exam tomorrow, I read about half of Trevor Bryce's "Life and Society in the Hittite World".

So far a really accessible read. Too bad nobody besides about a group of four or five dozen scholars in the world give a rat's ass about Hittites.

 

[dorian gray]

Stupid Hittites

 

[Mormagil]

I found Babbitt to be surprisingly relevant. Best 55 cents I ever spent at a thrift store.

 

[dorian gray]

For years I've been trying to recall the name of a book I almost chose from a reading list in junior high but I just couldn't remember it. Thanks to Mormagil, I now remember when I grabbed Babbit from the library shelf and took it back some days later. Good ol RC. What is it not good for?

 

[Mormagil]

Actually, that's why I mentioned it.

 

[Arunas]

This thread has produced a lot of good recommendations, so maybe anyone has something new to share?
As for me, read Catch 22 by Heller and was completely blown away! Amazing read, full of witty humour, sarcasm and irony. A must read

 

[Dick Sirloin]

Any of you fuckers read 2666 yet? Do so. The hype around it is not exaggerated.

 

[MajestikMøøse]

I'm in the middle of reading The Sermon on the Mount in Greek and all I can think while reading it is 'goddamn that Jesus dude was a fucking lunatic!'

I mean, I've read bits and pieces of the NT in English, but whenever I read it in Greek it's pretty much like "Well, Jesus got dunked in the river, some voice talked to him, then he got lost in the desert and didn't have anything to eat for forty days... but later he found some fishermen and so the most natural thing in the world for them to do was to get together and form a travelling exorcist troupe. Well hey, it worked pretty good for them until he went and got himself crucified."

Will report more as the reading continues.

 

[MajestikMøøse]

Finished the Sermon on the Mount

In sum, I would imagine that it was just as boring as ridiculous as an English translation of it would be.

*sigh* I've got a loooooong way to go yet before I hit the apocalyptic shit.

 

[MajestikMøøse]

I can however get behind the maxim τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον "Give us today our bread that is necessary for our daily survival" if we're counting liquid bread brewed by monks in Belgium.

 

[cthulufhtagn]

Any of you fuckers read 2666 yet? Do so. The hype around it is not exaggerated.

but it's so fucking big

nah i read the first ten or so pages in a bookstore and it seemed ok, as soon as i'm looking to kill a weekend or five i'll pick it up

but first i'm about to start darkly dreaming dexter, the books the dexter tv show was based on

 

[Demilich]

if we're counting liquid bread brewed by monks in Belgium.

remember when you didn't like beer?

silly Moose

 

[Dick Sirloin]

but it's so fucking big

nah i read the first ten or so pages in a bookstore and it seemed ok, as soon as i'm looking to kill a weekend or five i'll pick it up

Funny, it's actually five books that loosely fit together. All of them are surprisingly fast-paced except for book 4, where Bolaño decides to not use but like two paragraph breaks for 350 pages (only space-breaks) while ruthlessly cataloging the hundreds of murdered women of Santa Teresa (actually Ciudad Juárez). I was halfway through the book before I found out that shit's REAL.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_homicides_in_Ciudad_Juárez


"Over the past 10 years Juárez has seen over 400 women fall victims to sexual homicides, their bodies often dumped in ditches or vacant lots. In addition, grassroots organizations in the region report that 40 remain missing. Despite pressure to catch the killers and a roundup of some suspects, few believe the true culprits have been found.

"The number of murders overwhelmed the local authorities, which led to the construction of a US$6-million, high-tech laboratory complex that is a legacy of those killings. After an outcry over what was widely viewed as a slipshod investigation, international donors chipped in to help the State of Chihuahua build an unusually well-equipped forensics operation. It boasts a ballistics lab, chemical and genetic testing, DNA analysis and a morgue capable of storing nearly 100 bodies. But the murder rate of 2008 even overwhelmed this top of the line facility and during the peak of the murder spree refrigerated containers have to make do with the record numbers of murder victims."

 

[Dick Sirloin]

"According to Amnesty International, as of February 2005 more than 800 bodies had been found, and over 3000 women were still missing."

That was four years ago.

 

[Chromatose]

That book sounds terrible. I hate reality in my books!

 

[MajestikMøøse]

remember when you didn't like beer?

silly Moose

I know!!!

 

[cthulufhtagn]

Funny, it's actually five books that loosely fit together. All of them are surprisingly fast-paced except for book 4, where Bolaño decides to not use but like two paragraph breaks for 350 pages (only space-breaks) while ruthlessly cataloging the hundreds of murdered women of Santa Teresa (actually Ciudad Juárez). I was halfway through the book before I found out that shit's REAL.

oh yeah, it's real. i think there are already a couple hundred murders this year alone. completely fucking insane.

anyway thanks for the rec, i'll have to remember to follow through on it now.

 

[Dick Sirloin]

It is truly one of the best novels I've ever read.

 

[dorian gray]

I can however get behind the maxim τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον "Give us today our bread that is necessary for our daily survival" if we're counting liquid bread brewed by monks in Belgium.