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Bobstar posted:Ordered. Need something to angry up the blood now that I've ditched pretty much all doomscrolling. I'll take a punt and recommend The Sellout by Paul Beatty. It's a satire of racism in modern America, and very funny in an absurdist Johnathan Swift/Kurt Vonnegut sort of way. The plot revolves around a fictional smalltown, that is so embarrassing it gets removed from all maps by the state of California, so the protagonist hatches an insane plot to make it relevant again by bringing back segregation. If you like absurdist realism then try Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, about a single middle aged woman, with profound social awkwardness, who has no other desire in the world than to work in a generic mini-market in the city's financial district, but is being pressured by he family to find a husband. Would also recommend Sisters by Daisy Johnson which is quite an unsettling psychological horror about teenage siblings, set in a extremely depressing English seaside resort. To describe it further would spoil the plot, but it has a creepy David Lynch atmosphere and involves bullying, revenge porn, and social media shaming. Fun stuff. And since there's a new Monkey Island game on the way I'm currently reading On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers, to whet my appetite. It's full of pirates and assorted voodoo antics 
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Apr 27, 2022 20:43
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josh04 posted:Capital, three volumes, by Karl R. R. Marx he said fiction not fantasy
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Apr 27, 2022 20:44
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https://twitter.com/youwouldknow/status/1519314032330776576 Re textbooks, pretty much all of ours are free online with institutional access these days (which I have mixed feelings about, since it was always bullshit making teenagers drop 3 figgies on textbooks as the start of every year, but weirdly ime wayyy fewer of them actually do the reading since they've had online access). & I get that lecturers forcing students to buy the newest edition of their text looks like a grift, but keeping editions up to date is more of a hobby than profit-making, there's gently caress all money in the royalties. Also in my field (law) out-of-date textbooks in libraries are often invaluable, since the textbooks can change drastically when cases get overturned &c & sometimes you need to check the citations on another source that refers to bits of an old edition that subsequently got taken out, I'm often searching for old editions of poo poo
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Apr 27, 2022 20:46
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Failed Imagineer posted:Both KRRM and GRRM had problems finishing their series before dying I feel like Elden Ring was a much more productive use of George's time.
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Apr 27, 2022 20:46
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smellmycheese posted:So which Tory Minister is the HoC Hog Cranker? Raab I bet
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Apr 27, 2022 20:50
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Boris
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Apr 27, 2022 20:54
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Grant Shapps looks like a wrong-un, so it was probably him.
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Apr 27, 2022 20:58
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Grant Fapps
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Apr 27, 2022 21:15
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Bobstar posted:Ordered. Need something to angry up the blood now that I've ditched pretty much all doomscrolling. I've read very few of The Classics of Literature, but I did really enjoy Dostoyevsky's The Idiot. Germinal by Emile Zola is good & was a major influence upon the writers of Disco Elysium, set late19th century northern France around striking coalminers. These days I kind of flitter between reading non-fiction & reading a lot of garbage. I've read all the Sharpe books for example. They are rip-roaring fun if you just want a big series to dive into of swashbuckling soldiering. And ever since my teenage years I've loved Robert Rankin's books, which tend to be extremely silly & funny mix of sci-fi, fantasy, incredibly stupid running gags, a little bit of parody & catchy book titles like The Brentford Chainstore Massacre and Raiders of the Lost Car Park. And Sprout Mask Replica, I love that book. I think one of his more approachable books is The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse. Rankin is the sort of writer that makes me laugh out loud on the bus & sound like a lunatic, it's great.
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Apr 27, 2022 21:34
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forkboy84 posted:I've read very few of The Classics of Literature, but I did really enjoy Dostoyevsky's The Idiot. Germinal by Emile Zola is good & was a major influence upon the writers of Disco Elysium, set late19th century northern France around striking coalminers. I love Rankin's Brentford 'trilogy' (11 books). Read it decades ago, and keep meaning to buy a bunch second hand if I see them. I forget which one, East of Ealing I think, where everyone has to get a barcode on their head to be allowed to buy anything. Prophetic - I can see something similar arriving here within the next decade - even if these days it would be an implant or smart card of some sort rather than a barcode on your forehead. On a law course I had to do as part of my surveying certification (I was once an MRICS amongst other careers I have had), we had to do a dummy planning application and I did one on behalf of Pooley and O'Malley. My law lecturer said "You've really got into this haven't you" LOL
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Apr 27, 2022 22:01
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Tesseraction posted:Grant Fapps Jacob Rees Hogg
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Apr 27, 2022 22:02
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keep punching joe posted:I'll take a punt and recommend The Sellout by Paul Beatty. It's a satire of racism in modern America, and very funny in an absurdist Johnathan Swift/Kurt Vonnegut sort of way. The plot revolves around a fictional smalltown, that is so embarrassing it gets removed from all maps by the state of California, so the protagonist hatches an insane plot to make it relevant again by bringing back segregation. I loved the Sellout. And I just finished Murata's new novel Earthlings, which has all the same  critique of society, but leads up to an ending which is pure   . Not even sure if I'd recommend but interesting.And my missus is pushing me to read Sisters, so I should soon. Good recs all round imo
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Apr 27, 2022 22:06
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Jaeluni Asjil posted:East of Ealing I think, where everyone has to get a barcode on their head to be allowed to buy anything. Prophetic - I can see something similar arriving here within the next decade - even if these days it would be an implant or smart card of some sort rather than a barcode on your forehead. Although so much of it was impossible to tell from parody as it was. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47TZ9MHI1qg
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Apr 27, 2022 22:24
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forkboy84 posted:These days I kind of flitter between reading non-fiction & reading a lot of garbage. I've read all the Sharpe books for example. They are rip-roaring fun if you just want a big series to dive into of swashbuckling soldiering. My swashbuckling recommendation is The Long Ships - jolly viking adventures, that masks a more serious look at medieval religion, politics, and the christianisation of Norway. It also has vikings competing over poetry, and getting all pissy when someone busts out a great poem completely off the cuff because now it means they have to come up with a better one right away. It's one of those books I recommend to everyone, regardless of their tastes (the other being Blindsight) because it's just a sheer delight.
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Apr 27, 2022 22:28
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Strom Cuzewon posted:My swashbuckling recommendation is The Long Ships - jolly viking adventures, that masks a more serious look at medieval religion, politics, and the christianisation of Norway. It also has vikings competing over poetry, and getting all pissy when someone busts out a great poem completely off the cuff because now it means they have to come up with a better one right away. Finally, someone else who's read Blindsight. e: what did you think of the Rifters trilogy (specifically Starfish?)
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Apr 27, 2022 22:36
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Jeherrin posted:Finally, someone else who's read Blindsight. Blindsight/Echopraxia are amazing and I love them. I reread them about once a year. I really liked the Rifters trilogy since the conceit was super interesting, but then I got to the section that suddenly has really gross needless sadomasochistic torture, I think in one of the Behemoth books. That really soured me on it. Edit: my book rec is The Emperor's Babe by Bernadine Evaristo. It's about a woman in third century AD London who ends up as the Emperor Severus' lover. It's funny, sometimes moving, sexy as all hell and just really great and unique. Also it's written in verse. Danger - Octopus! fucked around with this message at 22:45 on Apr 27, 2022 |
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Apr 27, 2022 22:41
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Jeherrin posted:Finally, someone else who's read Blindsight. I've only read Blindsight and Echopraxia. I think Blindsight is the better book, but Echopraxia's neo-Lovecraftian vibe is amazing and I've somehow never seen anything quite like it.
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Apr 27, 2022 22:44
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where's wally is an excellent way to kill a bit of time, insightful too.
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Apr 27, 2022 23:02
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NotJustANumber99 posted:where's wally is an excellent way to kill a bit of time, insightful too. you have an unfair advantage though, you can just turn your monitor off
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Apr 27, 2022 23:06
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Dabir posted:you have an unfair advantage though, you can just turn your monitor off 
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Apr 27, 2022 23:22
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I read some of my Dad's Rankin books when I was much much younger and enjoyed them - but I think I'd get a lot more out of them now, I'll have to find them again.smellmycheese posted:Jacob Rees Hogg Jackof Dees Hogg
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Apr 27, 2022 23:28
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https://twitter.com/Independent/status/1513793394362966016?t=Inp8PFJaURk1gBJln-XNqA&s=19 How did we get to this point, how can we escape
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Apr 28, 2022 00:12
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Failed Imagineer posted:https://twitter.com/Independent/status/1513793394362966016?t=Inp8PFJaURk1gBJln-XNqA&s=19 I dont know what any of this is so I guess just getting on with your life rather than living your life on elon's social media site might help. my next door neighbour is called wally. My first childhood dog was too.
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Apr 28, 2022 00:12
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NotJustANumber99 posted:I dont know what any of this is so I guess just getting on with your life rather than living your life on elon's social media site might help. We're all here in the filth together my friend
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Apr 28, 2022 00:17
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https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/apr/27/boris-johnson-tempting-evil-revealing-ukrainian-soldiers-trained-poland What the loving gently caress does he think he's doing?
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Apr 28, 2022 00:29
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Failed Imagineer posted:https://twitter.com/Independent/status/1513793394362966016?t=Inp8PFJaURk1gBJln-XNqA&s=19 
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Apr 28, 2022 00:32
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Lungboy posted:https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/apr/27/boris-johnson-tempting-evil-revealing-ukrainian-soldiers-trained-poland His best.
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Apr 28, 2022 00:40
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Complete irrelevance who helped ruin the UK bleats: Nigel Farage tweeted quote:For years I would gain 30,000 new Twitter followers per month and most tweets would get 5,000+ retweets. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/elon-musk-twitter-nigel-farage-algorithm-b2065929.html quote:Mr Farage admitted that it was possible that "my stuff's really dull and boring" and that "I've not nothing interesting to say, no original thoughts whatsoever".
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Apr 28, 2022 01:08
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quote:I've had zero growth for 18 months
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Apr 28, 2022 01:14
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i don't think watching porn is that bad
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Apr 28, 2022 01:38
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book recs: Catch-22 is my all-time favourite, really emphasises the black comedy involved in being a (relatively) sane person in an insane world buuuut recently I've been reading lighter stuff for the escapism and the Jack Reacher series has been pretty good for that bad people do bad things, Reacher beats the poo poo out of them, justice and reason win, hurray all round Julio Cruz fucked around with this message at 01:43 on Apr 28, 2022 |
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Apr 28, 2022 01:38
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theres like 27 of them or something?
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Apr 28, 2022 01:42
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https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1519352651955245057?t=em6IiCj689d2krDULYebXw&s=19 Shame that these prices keep going up. So sad. Nothing can be done about it. Who keeps raising the cap? Who has the authority to stop them? No idea. Ah well, nevertheless. Stop being silly anyway.
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Apr 28, 2022 01:52
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I've read the first 7 of the 21 Patrick O'Brian Aubrey / Maturin novels (on which the film Master & Commander Far Side of The World was based and in which Russell Crowe is absolutely perfect as Jack Aubrey). I've been reading a couple a year for the past 3-4 years. Set in the early 19th century when Britain was at war with France and the US. I really enjoy them though occasionally they can get a bit too technical on some of the ship terminology so I tend to skip those odd paragraphs and think "ship stuff" to myself. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey%E2%80%93Maturin_series
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Apr 28, 2022 01:53
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I'll throw in a recommendation for the Clockwork Rocket trilogy on the sci-fi side of things. What if time was fully symmetric with the spatial dimensions? Also gender politics of a shapeshifting blob species.
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Apr 28, 2022 02:05
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Bobby Deluxe posted:https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1519352651955245057?t=em6IiCj689d2krDULYebXw&s=19 We have to secure an existence for the free market maaan. I mean labour would do the same thing so our opposition supports this whats your problem??? (gently caress)
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Apr 28, 2022 02:12
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Strom Cuzewon posted:My swashbuckling recommendation is The Long Ships - jolly viking adventures, that masks a more serious look at medieval religion, politics, and the christianisation of Norway. It also has vikings competing over poetry, and getting all pissy when someone busts out a great poem completely off the cuff because now it means they have to come up with a better one right away. The Long Ships owns and is tremendously good fun to read.
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Apr 28, 2022 05:30
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This day is called the feast of Ed Balls: They that posted that day, and came safe home, Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named, And rouse them at the name of Ed Balls. They shall live this day, and see old age, Will yearly on the vigil feast their neighbours, And say ‘To-morrow is Ed Balls day:’ They will strip their rap sheet and show their sixers. And say ‘These wounds I had on Ed Balls day.’
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Apr 28, 2022 08:03
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Anything by George Saunders is pretty good. Speculative/science fiction with lots of humour, irony and genuine pathos, it's very Vonnegutian.
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Apr 28, 2022 08:57
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Ed Balls
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