The Books/Reading Thread

[Matt]

Christianity is Platonism for the people.

I remember when you first got here, you knew to certainty that you would never lose your faith.

And I haven't read anything in a while. Been slackin'

 

[Tallerthanatree]

 

[Zephyrus]

I remember when you first got here, you knew to certainty that you would never lose your faith.

I was also 16 years old.

 

[Einherjar86]

R. Scott Bakker's second installment of The Aspect Emperor trilogy is coming out this year. For those who've kept up with the story since The Darkness That Comes Before, here's a review (no spoilers):

http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/2010/12/white-luck-warrior.html

 

[JontRevolting]

Currently reading 'Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H. P. Lovecraft'.Tonight is actually the first time i've read any H.P.Lovecraft,after having read some Blackwood,M.R.James and other weird tales both of the fiction and non fiction varieties.Of the Lovecraft stories i've read so far today and tonight,"Dagon","The Statement of Randolph Carter","The Doom that Came to Sarnath","The Cats of Ulthar","The Nameless City","Herbert West-Reanimator" and "The Music of Erich Zann",i'm blown away and happy to say that i've definately left the best till last.Really glad that I have many more of his amazingly chilling tales to read and i'll definately be tracking down other collections of his work!

 

[Hell Patrol]

Just finished reading this. More interesting then the book itself is the fact that if you swap the O in his first name with a Y...

 

[Einherjar86]

It spells Italy. Why is that interesting?

 

[sevag00]

Italy is an interesting name.

 

[Hell Patrol]

I dunno. To me it seems far too convenient for someone collecting Italian folk tales to almost be named Italy.

 

[unknown]

Italo Calvino is one of my favorite authors. He writes some of the most fun and interesting stories

 

[Badbird]

1. ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand
2. THE FOUNTAINHEAD by Ayn Rand
3. BATTLEFIELD EARTH by L. Ron Hubbard
4. THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J.R.R. Tolkien
5. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee
6. 1984 by George Orwell
7. ANTHEM by Ayn Rand
8. WE THE LIVING by Ayn Rand
9. MISSION EARTH by L. Ron Hubbard
10. FEAR by L. Ron Hubbard


So acording to the reader list, Ayn Rand and L Ron Hubbard are two of the greatest writers ever.

 

[Einherjar86]

That list is a load of bollocks.

Doing research for my master's thesis. This is a portion of what I'm currently being imbued with:

 

[Badbird]

That list is a load of bollocks.

.

 

[Blind Guardian]

This book reminds me of Dodens Grav. Perhaps because it's courtesy of ANUS (while DG is a bit influenced by them)? Despite what one thinks of them, they rarely disappoint when it comes to promoting good music/literature. At least in my opinion. Angsty teenagers with that school massacre ingredience in their DNA should stay away from both these kinds of books and the site as a whole, but if you're a somewhat mature and somewhat life-experienced adult who knows how to take things with a grain of salt and first and foremost think for yourself, it can be good.

Doctor Glas is an intellectual who is generally dissatisfied with the world around him. While writing in his journal, he realizes more and more that he has become distanced from society, and as a consequence he starts to question moral conventions and the concept of love. In short, he tries to find the reason for why he has turned into an outsider in the first place. Sort of a forerunner to Steppenwolf. I haven't reached the ending, but there's a possibility that some form of violence awaits. Regardless of what happens I have loved this book so far.

 

[The Ozzman]

I ordered the following from Barnes and Noble because three of them were in the bargain bin:

# The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 - Rick Atkinson (800 page hardcover for 5 bucks)
# The Conscience of a Conservative - Barry Goldwater (3 dollars)
# Liar's Poker: Rising through the Wreckage on Wall Street - Michael Lewis
# Irrational Exuberance - Robert J. Shiller
# Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco - Bryan Burrough, John Helyar (4 dollars)

also found this at an antique mall:

 

[zabu of nΩd]

...you were shopping at an antique mall?

 

[The Ozzman]

...you were shopping at an antique mall?

Someone I work with told me about this part of the antique mall that is nothing but books on conspiracy theories, so I thought I'd check it out. 'Conspiracy Corner' had books on the JFK assassination (Did Oswald do it?, the Zapruder film, etc), Nixon in general, LBJ, UFOs, Mossad. It was pretty neat.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

Okay you're excused

 

[zabu of nΩd]

Damn, Kissinger sounds like an interesting dude:

A proponent of Realpolitik, Kissinger played a dominant role in United States foreign policy between 1969 and 1977. During this period, he pioneered the policy of détente with the Soviet Union, orchestrated the opening of relations with the People's Republic of China, and negotiated the Paris Peace Accords, ending American involvement in the Vietnam War. His role in the bombing of Cambodia and other American interventions abroad during this period remains controversial.

Kissinger is still a controversial figure today. He remains a regular participant in meetings of the annual invitation-only Bilderberg Group.

 

[Addo_Of_Nex]

I mean, you never know when Henry Kissinger is going to drop in, do you?