crimsonfloyd
Active Member
The Sofer novel is a little bland from a literary perspective, but so far is a decent story. The other two books are very good.
The Books/Reading Thread
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The Sofer novel is a little bland from a literary perspective, but so far is a decent story. The other two books are very good.
monoxide_child
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- Jul 30, 2008
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I've really been delving into the work of Ernest Hemingway. For Whom The Bell Tolls and A Farewell to Arms are two of my favorites right now.
Vimana
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- Mar 2, 2007
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Just finished The Righteous Mind. It was insightful for understanding politics, but the author really doesn't go deep enough into human nature. Explanations for aspects of morality lack an evolutionary explanation, and I also completely disagree with the notion that racially homogenous societies are inherently more trusting and more selfless. I think the hive instinct can be extended to all of humanity if we are to connect while forgetting the arbitrary things that normally bind us.
The problem is not our grouping instinct, but how we use it. We connect based on differences like skin color rather than similarities like the faculties of our minds.
The problem is not our grouping instinct, but how we use it. We connect based on differences like skin color rather than similarities like the faculties of our minds.
monoxide_child
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Serjeant Grumbles
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I've just stared The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. This is in the original Middle English, with ample glosses.
monoxide_child
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why can't people read this in an actual modern english??
has it even been translated into a contemporary readable english yet??
everybody keeps telling me how freaking awesome The Canterbury Tales is but i can't actually find a version that's actually fucking readable
unknown
fuck ftagn
yeah actually there's quite a few modern english translations. canterbury tales is pretty good...nothing like tales about sleeping with women and getting farted in the eye
Dak
mentat
Einherjar86
Active Member
Dak
mentat
I know, given it's era etc etc. Doesn't matter to me. Was so bad I will never forget the waste of my life incurred on it's account in my English 131(?) class more than 10 years ago.
Einherjar86
Active Member
It should matter to you. The fact that it doesn't betrays more ignorance than intelligence...
Just saying. If economics documents are so important, then reading Chaucer shouldn't be considered a waste of time.
Just saying. If economics documents are so important, then reading Chaucer shouldn't be considered a waste of time.
Dak
mentat
I'm reading the Republic right now, not quite what is normally considered "economics" (although I think all philosophy is economic). It's shitty fiction. I've said this before. The fact that it is one of the most early surviving fictional pieces in English, doesn't make it any less shitty. Beowulf is earlier and not so pedantic and crude.
Einherjar86
Active Member
The Canterbury Tales aren't compositionally crude. Its pedantic nature does not somehow decrease its value.
First As Tragedy, Then As Farce
Slavoj Zizek
Just started, haven't gotten half way thru... not really impressed so far. But not bad, some good parts. But I haven't gotten to the part where 9/11 and the economic collapse 2008 is linked. Not sure it really can be without reaaaaaally stretching things...
Slavoj Zizek
Just started, haven't gotten half way thru... not really impressed so far. But not bad, some good parts. But I haven't gotten to the part where 9/11 and the economic collapse 2008 is linked. Not sure it really can be without reaaaaaally stretching things...
Einherjar86
Active Member
They're linked by the title Žižek chose for the book, which comes from Marx: "Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce."
9/11 is the tragic "apocalyptic" event of capitalism; the 2008 financial crisis is the farcical repetition.
Honestly, that's my least favorite book by Žižek that I've read. It's very flimsy and insubstantial.
9/11 is the tragic "apocalyptic" event of capitalism; the 2008 financial crisis is the farcical repetition.
Honestly, that's my least favorite book by Žižek that I've read. It's very flimsy and insubstantial.
Einherjar86
Active Member
I'm just saying, don't let that be your only introduction to Žižek. You should read The Sublime Object of Ideology.
Or, at least Welcome to the Desert of the Real, which is very thin but far more substantial than Tragedy.
Or, at least Welcome to the Desert of the Real, which is very thin but far more substantial than Tragedy.
viewerfromnihil
Vein-Marbled Tower
Nice, I am as well. I get bored with the dialogue every 30 pages or so, so I've been jumping between a few books, including these two:
I just picked up The Fourth Turning yesterday, so I can't comment extensively on it. It has been an interesting read so far. Considering that the authors frequently equivocate, never really claiming that their finds are an exact science, I haven't found much to dispute with. I'm sure that will come later in the book though. Emma Goldman's collection of essays is a fun read. The writing style could be likened to that of a street-corner rant.
Dak
mentat
The version of the Republic I'm reading had a lengthy breakdown by the translator at the beginning, so I'm practically reading it twice. Its been a slog. Probably reading Leviathan next.
