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Re: What are you reading?
Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 3:23 pm
by Naan_Bread
magma wrote:Ba-zinga wrote:
turnin out to be my 2nd fav. book of all time. adams writing is simply amazing...the right touches of humor, exactly the kind of writing i like. would recommend to all. actually if you haven't read this yet please do so now i don't care where you are at
I love these books more than almost anything else on my shelf.
Definitely my favourite comedic book.

Re: What are you reading?
Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:39 pm
by apmje
Re: What are you reading?
Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:10 pm
by Kochari
Primo Levi - Other People's Trades
Probably the best writer I've ever read. Every sentence is an absolute pleasure to read.
'Some readers will ask what is the use of all this research: a religious spirit might answer that the harmony of creation is mirrored in the flea; a lay mind prefers to say that the question is not relevant and that a world in which only useful things are studied would be sadder, poorer, and perhaps more violent than the world which fate has allotted us. In substance, the second answer is not very different from the first."
Re: What are you reading?
Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:56 am
by Soiree
TAROT MAKES ME
Alejandro Jodorowsky's massive TEXT:
The way of TAROT
It's a fucking incredible book, I've read like 5-6 books on tarot, and most of them suck balls in comparison to this amazing book.
Read it here for free...
http://www.scribd.com/doc/71402231/The-Way-of-Tarot
it's only like 600 pages

Insightful and very detailed.
and his movies are not too shabby,

Re: What are you reading?
Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 9:49 pm
by jigglypuff
im enjoying both of them thoroughly
Re: What are you reading?
Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 8:12 pm
by fractal
Motorway to Roswell wrote:Mount Analogue is wicked. It's short because Daumal died before he could finish it. Cuts off mid-sentence.
Part of the inspiration for Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain....
Ahhhhh, makes sense now!
Re: What are you reading?
Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 8:13 am
by Soiree
^^^ never knew that, wicked!
Re: What are you reading?
Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 3:56 pm
by Naan_Bread
jigglypuff wrote:
Just wait until you get to the last few pages (chapter maybe, can't remember.) I read this a few years ago and quite enjoyed it until he pulls the out the rug and comes in with a doomsday prophecy, at which point I discounted most of what he'd said.
Re: What are you reading?
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 5:42 pm
by Theo Void
Chuck Pahlaniuk Haunted is twisted and super entertaining.
Also, the Turner Diaries.
Re: What are you reading?
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 6:06 pm
by dubfordessert
cambridge companion to foucault
i better get like a 90 on my diss man
Re: What are you reading?
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:33 pm
by Neptune
cambridge companions are really good! i swear by them for essays.
for 4 whole months, I can choose which books I want read!!! So I'm starting with:

Really good so far, beautifully written.
Re: What are you reading?
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:08 pm
by kay
Not Sherri S Tepper at her best, but it's readable so far.
Re: What are you reading?
Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 2:14 pm
by magma
Kochari wrote:
Primo Levi - Other People's Trades
Probably the best writer I've ever read. Every sentence is an absolute pleasure to read.
'Some readers will ask what is the use of all this research: a religious spirit might answer that the harmony of creation is mirrored in the flea; a lay mind prefers to say that the question is not relevant and that a world in which only useful things are studied would be sadder, poorer, and perhaps more violent than the world which fate has allotted us. In substance, the second answer is not very different from the first."
I read The Drowned and The Saved the year before last... probably the most depressing book I've ever read, but absolutely impossible to put down. Primo Levi's a huge loss to the world, but after reading what he experienced, I can't say I'm too shocked that he eventually killed himself. I'm just glad he did so much writing before he did.
I'll check Other People's Trades out next time I've got a surplus of faith in humanity.

Re: What are you reading?
Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 8:46 am
by Disco Nutter
Just finished this:
4,5/5
Life isn't fair--here's why: Since 1500, Europeans have, for better & worse, called the tune that the world has danced to. In Guns, Germs & Steel, Jared Diamond explains the reasons why things worked out that way. It's an elemental question. Diamond is certainly not the 1st to ask it. However, he performs a singular service by relying on scientific fact rather than specious theories of European genetic superiority. Diamond, a UCLA physiologist, suggests that the geography of Eurasia was best suited to farming, the domestication of animals & the free flow of information. The more populous cultures that developed as a result had more complex forms of government & communication, & increased resistance to disease. Finally, fragmented Europe harnessed the power of competitive innovation in ways that China didn't. (For example, the Europeans used the Chinese invention of gunpowder to create guns & subjugate the New World.) Diamond's book is complex & a bit overwhelming. But the thesis he methodically puts forth--examining the "positive feedback loop" of farming, then domestication, then population density, then innovation etc.--makes sense. Written without bias, Guns, Germs & Steel is good global history.
Re: What are you reading?
Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 8:49 am
by magma
Disco Nutter wrote:Just finished this:
Yes. Absolutely. This should be essential reading.
Re: What are you reading?
Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 8:01 pm
by Kochari
magma wrote:
I read The Drowned and The Saved the year before last... probably the most depressing book I've ever read, but absolutely impossible to put down. Primo Levi's a huge loss to the world, but after reading what he experienced, I can't say I'm too shocked that he eventually killed himself. I'm just glad he did so much writing before he did.
I'll check Other People's Trades out next time I've got a surplus of faith in humanity.

Wow. What surprised me about Other People's Trade's was how full of life and love and general positivity it is. I've never read any of his others but I know what happened to him. But yeah, OPT is honestly really life-affirming, its like he just looks at everything and goes "that's cool, that's also cool, so is that" but in a much more eloquent and lovely way
Which, interestingly, seems to be the case with this as well:

Re: What are you reading?
Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 7:31 am
by Disco Nutter
Good Omens
by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Had loads of fun reading this, gets better while progressing towards the end.
4.2/5!
Re: What are you reading?
Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 3:25 am
by SCope13
fassyman wrote:Motorway to Roswell wrote:
Reading On the Road atm. Read half of it a few years ago and thought it was terrible, dull and poorly written. Thought I'd give it another go before I write it off.
think thats next on my list, reading this atm
really enjoying it
Just finished reading this. Was good, but not as good as On the Road, I absolutely love that book. Really enjoy the Beats.
Re: What are you reading?
Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 7:27 am
by kay
Slowly getting through my pile of books, now reading China Mieville's Kraken. Reads a lot more easily than most of his other books, although there are some oddities in sentence structure. Also, Burial's mentioned in the acknowledgements, wonder whether dubstep gets a mention at some point.

Re: What are you reading?
Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 3:49 am
by _TraX_