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Homeless Friend posted:thats too much drat readin gulag
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Dec 18, 2019 06:09
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that’s a lot of posts
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Dec 18, 2019 07:28
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what app is that? i want to keep track of what i read as well. does it allow for notes and such? maybe i just need a diary instead.
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Dec 18, 2019 07:50
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goodreads yearly summary i'd assume
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Dec 18, 2019 08:57
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succ posted:what app is that? i want to keep track of what i read as well. does it allow for notes and such? Goodreads yearly summary ya
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Dec 18, 2019 14:23
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succ posted:what app is that? i want to keep track of what i read as well. does it allow for notes and such? Goodreads. There's a whole social media aspect to it but I mainly use it to keep track of my ever growing "to read" list.
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Dec 18, 2019 14:42
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Ya the social aspect is pretty not great but I also never really interact with it It's basically a central place for all my lists and making sure I'm reading enough that my Library Extension app plays nice with so I know which books I don't have to pay for
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Dec 18, 2019 14:47
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looks like you need to go back to the fields, academic
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Dec 18, 2019 16:21
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Peanut President posted:looks like you need to go back to the fields, academic Hammer and Hoe is next up!
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Dec 18, 2019 17:41
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intended to keep my habit of reading books that make me really mad alive and boy howdy is No Good Men Among the Living doing it now that I've hit about the halfway point
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Dec 21, 2019 17:35
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I recently finished reading Karen Armstrong's "St Paul: The Apostle We Love To Hate". The key takeaway was that Paul's actual writings were very radically egalitarian, to the extent that he advocated for the abolition of gender segregation within the church and for early Christians to set up their own separate sharing economy apart from Roman rule. The letters to the Corintians, Galatians, and Romans were all him, but the letters to the Ephesians and Colossians, and to Titus and Timothy, were probably written by someone else, in Paul's name, to steer Church doctrine back towards more conservative/Greco-Roman values. Also, even in the letters that we already know come from Paul, the passages about telling women to stay silent and course their questions through their husbands show up in different places across different manuscripts, and always interrupt whatever train of thought that Paul was already on, so they had to have been inserted by someone else. ___ I also more recently finished reading Thomas Paine's "Common Sense". I can definitely see why this was such a big influence for revolution, because it's a pretty compelling case for independence and republicanism. The other interesting thing to come out of that is his idea that once a state elects a President, that state is no longer eligible for selecting a president until all other states have gotten their shot. It'd be pretty easy to "game" and manipulate away from its original intent, but it's kinda intriguing to think about the possibility of being forced to only run candidates from Oregon or Alaska.
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Dec 23, 2019 01:54
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This book is like the fifth one in a row to drop William Blake references out of nowhere. I should probably figure out that dude's deal at some point
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Dec 26, 2019 01:45
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Goon Danton posted:This book is like the fifth one in a row to drop William Blake references out of nowhere. I should probably figure out that dude's deal at some point He's a dead man 
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Dec 26, 2019 03:41
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taqueso posted:He's a dead man nice
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Dec 26, 2019 03:43
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Got Tooze's book on WWI for Christmas 
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Dec 26, 2019 03:44
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about done with Saga of the Swamp Thing and I guess I'm wondering why it's classified as horror. Nothing really horrific has happened so far except an exploration of things alien and misguided is is because the original was horror?
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Dec 27, 2019 03:06
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I picked up Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson on a lark. I'm only a couple of chapters in but I have to ask: am I missing something? Most of what I've read seems incoherent. Sometimes he will jump to conclusions without explaining how he got there, or will be imprecise in ways that border on making his points flat-out wrong. It seems like he rarely explains why he picks certain examples, and doesn't address some parts that would be crucial for understanding the phenomena he brings up. For example, he treats nationalism as something that sprang out of the collapse of the feudal political order. Nothing wrong about that, that's a fairly standard interpretation of the French Revolution. But he treats the feudal hierarchy as something that existed only because people believed in God hard enough to slot themselves into these rigid social structures; rather than treating the feudal system as a social contract of sorts between sovereign and vassal, or lord and peasant. What's more, when he introduces the concept, he starts by mentioning that nationalism sprang from the decay of religious monarchy, and even mentions that there are certain dynamics at play in the collapse of that older system, but then hand waves it away saying it's not what's important at the moment. Am I misreading the work, or is my man trying to explain the transition to modern nationalism while desperately trying to avoid talking about historical materialism?
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Dec 27, 2019 03:52
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https://twitter.com/OfWudan/status/1212102348421713921
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Jan 2, 2020 02:15
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While you were reading the Three Body Problem, I was studying the blade
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Jan 2, 2020 03:16
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cool dance moves posted:For example, he treats nationalism as something that sprang out of the collapse of the feudal political order. Nothing wrong about that, that's a fairly standard interpretation of the French Revolution. But he treats the feudal hierarchy as something that existed only because people believed in God hard enough to slot themselves into these rigid social structures; rather than treating the feudal system as a social contract of sorts between sovereign and vassal, or lord and peasant. What's more, when he introduces the concept, he starts by mentioning that nationalism sprang from the decay of religious monarchy, and even mentions that there are certain dynamics at play in the collapse of that older system, but then hand waves it away saying it's not what's important at the moment. Such that I remember the book, you're misreading the work. Basically what he's doing here is discussing the changes that had to happen for nations to become the dominant form of imagined communities. These changes are either preconditions for the nation (such as a change in conceiving of time), or clearing space through the collapse of the old imagined communities (local vernaculars replacing sacred latin as the administrative language). What's important here, and I think this is what you're missing, is that Anderson is pointedly not making a causal claim about these things driving the rise of national identities. A point he stresses repeatedly is that while languages are vehicles for common imaginings, they are pointedly not constitutive of national identities. Rather, what is constitutive of national identities is the content of the common imaginings. So when he says that he's not concerned with the particular dynamics that led to the collapse of the religious feudal system, it is because it is the fact that the feudal system collapsed which is important (since this cleared space for national identities to replace religious ones as the dominant for of the imagined community) rather than any particular detail about how it collapsed.
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Jan 2, 2020 03:21
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the last three books I've read were jarett kobek's Only Americans Burn in Hell, emily guendelsberger's "On the clock" and Bullshit jobs by david graeber. I'm fine and not at all depressed about labor, alienation, and america, no not at all
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Jan 5, 2020 23:36
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Hand Knit posted:Such that I remember the book, you're misreading the work. Basically what he's doing here is discussing the changes that had to happen for nations to become the dominant form of imagined communities. These changes are either preconditions for the nation (such as a change in conceiving of time), or clearing space through the collapse of the old imagined communities (local vernaculars replacing sacred latin as the administrative language). What's important here, and I think this is what you're missing, is that Anderson is pointedly not making a causal claim about these things driving the rise of national identities. A point he stresses repeatedly is that while languages are vehicles for common imaginings, they are pointedly not constitutive of national identities. Rather, what is constitutive of national identities is the content of the common imaginings. Oh, ok. Thank you for explaining! I suppose I just really wanted to interrogate casual claims so I conjured some up when Anderson wasn't trying to make them. In that case, I dont quite think Imagined Communities is quite my cup of tea. I think I'll move on to reading something else. Zesty Mordant posted:I'm fine and not at all depressed about labor, alienation, and america, no not at all Well then gee whillikers, maybe you should read the Bible!!! I'm only half-joking, Proverbs in particular has some stuff that helps me feel better about our garbage world. Same for the Koran though im not quite so familiar with that text. cool dance moves has issued a correction as of 01:44 on Jan 6, 2020 |
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Jan 6, 2020 01:42
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i read the work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction by walter benjamin for free on line. it was really good, but i think the translation was average (i didn't bother looking for a better one).
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Jan 6, 2020 02:45
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cool dance moves posted:Oh, ok. Thank you for explaining! I suppose I just really wanted to interrogate casual claims so I conjured some up when Anderson wasn't trying to make them. In that case, I dont quite think Imagined Communities is quite my cup of tea. I think I'll move on to reading something else. Yeah, Anderson is trying to talk about what nationalism is rather than where it came from. If you want to see someone take Anderson's theory of nationalism and actually defend some historical causal claims, check out Nations and Nationalism Since 1780 by Hobsbawm.
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Jan 6, 2020 17:38
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My new years resolution is to read Kapital, Wealth of Nations, and City of God; and holy poo poo that's a lot of pages
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Jan 9, 2020 22:32
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StashAugustine posted:My new years resolution is to read Kapital, Wealth of Nations, and City of God; and holy poo poo that's a lot of pages I managed to finish Kapital and David Harvey's guide before Christmas starting somewhere in mid October. You can make it!
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Jan 9, 2020 23:12
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StashAugustine posted:My new years resolution is to read Kapital, Wealth of Nations, and City of God; and holy poo poo that's a lot of pages Kapital ain't bad but it's dense, I recommend reading it with a group to discuss it alongside the Harvey lectures and a companion
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Jan 9, 2020 23:31
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I borrowed Legacy of Ashes and The Year Civilization Crumbled from my library.
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Jan 11, 2020 08:56
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StashAugustine posted:My new years resolution is to read Kapital, Wealth of Nations, and City of God; and holy poo poo that's a lot of pages Wealth of Nations is readable but there are parts where Smiths gets really technical with something like corn/wheat prices. He also defines and uses terms in a specific way and his statements can seem more broad and general out of context. Like free trade being about colonies being allowed to trade directly with each other instead of having to transport goods through their parent nation.
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Jan 11, 2020 13:51
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about 3/4 of the way through The Shadow of the Torturer and I'm definitely into it and understanding why Le Guin endorsed it so highly (which is why I gave it a shot)
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Jan 16, 2020 05:10
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Epic High Five posted:about 3/4 of the way through The Shadow of the Torturer and I'm definitely into it and understanding why Le Guin endorsed it so highly (which is why I gave it a shot) Didn't know Le Guin was a fan, that's cool. I need to read those again, I loved the setting ams some of the stories and how it makes you work go figure out what the gently caress is happening, but the combo of unreliable narrator who's also mostly a piece of poo poo makes it hard to tease out the themes of the book
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Jan 16, 2020 06:03
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Epic High Five posted:about 3/4 of the way through The Shadow of the Torturer and I'm definitely into it and understanding why Le Guin endorsed it so highly (which is why I gave it a shot) Book of the New Sun is a masterpiece. I read it (and Urth) last year and am so bummed I only found out about Gene Wolfe just before he passed away. It's criminal that he isn't mentioned alongside Melville, McCarthy, etc by everyone. He seems pretty unknown outside genre circles. But I guess when Le Guin said "he's our Melville" she also meant he would die in relative obscurity. MeatwadIsGod has issued a correction as of 07:43 on Jan 16, 2020 |
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Jan 16, 2020 07:40
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MeatwadIsGod posted:Book of the New Sun is a masterpiece. I read it (and Urth) last year and am so bummed I only found out about Gene Wolfe just before he passed away. It's criminal that he isn't mentioned alongside Melville, McCarthy, etc by everyone. He seems pretty unknown outside genre circles. But I guess when Le Guin said "he's our Melville" she also meant he would die in relative obscurity. I definitely get the love now, and feel dumb for having avoided it thus far but the covers and a lot of what you hear about them make it seem like a generic fantasy romp, which isn't a bad thing but not something I'd ever rush to read. Turns out that's very wrong, and that it's one of the rare books where the world is coherent and deep and the characters navigate it instead of the world accommodating the characters. A very rare thing and one of the things I love about Le Guin's worlds. I'm definitely going to be reading everything the series has. StashAugustine posted:Didn't know Le Guin was a fan, that's cool. I need to read those again, I loved the setting ams some of the stories and how it makes you work go figure out what the gently caress is happening, but the combo of unreliable narrator who's also mostly a piece of poo poo makes it hard to tease out the themes of the book An unreliable narrator with (as far as I know at this point) a perfect memory is a good twist. I have been enjoying how much Wolfe loves dropping a new thing to throw your brain in reverse just when you were starting to think this or that was analogous to something in our world. It starting out with such a mundane setting and power structures and then shifting was good, The Revolutionary being the first such  moment
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Jan 16, 2020 18:56
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Epic High Five posted:I have been enjoying how much Wolfe loves dropping a new thing to throw your brain in reverse just when you were starting to think this or that was analogous to something in our world. It starting out with such a mundane setting and power structures and then shifting was good, The Revolutionary being the first such This doesn't stop happening until you've finished the entire series btw.
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Jan 16, 2020 19:00
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exmarx posted:i read the work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction by walter benjamin for free on line. it was really good, but i think the translation was average (i didn't bother looking for a better one). As far as i know the translation was actually done by noted anticommunist hanna arendt. I dont think the substance of the text was changed in her translation but something 2 think about i guess
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Jan 16, 2020 19:01
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where's the best place to start reading socialist theory? ive read a bunch of history, but I'd like to play the left version of the Cosmo quiz to figure out exactly what type of socialist I am PLUS how to drive my partner wild in bed
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Jan 16, 2020 19:20
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I just wanted to give anyone reading this thread a heads up that I am planning to do a thread discussing the book “Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties” by Tom O'Neill. It is a book that began as a magazine article that was supposed to come out in 1999 but which gradually sprawled into a multi-decade obsession for the author as he kept uncovering details that had been suppressed or forgotten and which directly contradicted the established narrative about the killings. Speaking as someone who never had any reason to care about the Mason murders and who was only vaguely aware of what had happened I didn't expect to be so fascinated by this book but over the course of his investigation the author uncovers a lot of bizarre details that all suggest a significant cover up and which hint at a largely unknown and mostly unsuspected side of the history of the 1960s counter culture. Before the end of it the CIA, MK Ultra and even the Kennedy assassination are tangentially involved/ It probably wouldn't be that difficult to simply summarize the details of the book in a short write up but I found the journey almost as satisfying as the destination so I thought it might be fun to cover the book section by section while anyone interested can get their own copy and read along. I'm a big believer in the freedom of information and can probably suggest ways to acquire the book if you cannot afford it and don't live nearby a public library but if possible I urge people to pay for the book because frankly you don't get investigative journalism like this anymore and the author deserves some coin for the literal decades of work that went into the book itself. If any of that sounds interesting to you get a copy of the book, start reading and watch out for the thread, coming soon.
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Jan 16, 2020 21:10
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Eat This Glob posted:where's the best place to start reading socialist theory? ive read a bunch of history, but I'd like to play the left version of the Cosmo quiz to figure out exactly what type of socialist I am PLUS how to drive my partner wild in bed If you haven't read it already, definitely start with the OG, The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
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Jan 16, 2020 21:18
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Eat This Glob posted:where's the best place to start reading socialist theory? ive read a bunch of history, but I'd like to play the left version of the Cosmo quiz to figure out exactly what type of socialist I am PLUS how to drive my partner wild in bed Communist Manifesto (top level stuff), The Conquest of Bread (anarchism), What Is To Be Done (Marxism-Leninism), and I'm not terribly familiar with a good intro text on Maoism but Practice and Contradiction is probably a good one all are short and to the point, see what resonates with ya
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Jan 16, 2020 21:23
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thanks folks. "manifesto" seemed the natural place to start, but glad to have it confirmed. I'll branch out from there. Thanks!
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Jan 16, 2020 22:13
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