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Remulak posted:I just re-read the entire series. The only problem is that it’s heteronormative space communism instead of gay space communism. Bezos is an old school robber Baron who understands what he is doing and revels in stuff like using his wealth to fund things that runs directly against him on a platform that has for decades done nothing but to serve him, see The Expanse I'm not nearly far enough to make a judgement but so far it seems the message is "gender? Psh, you parochial fool" instead of taking sides. I can't think of many other authors doing anything like as close as this in the genre in 1988 other than Le Guin or of course Russ tho so maybe I'm grading on a curve like when I don't dismiss cyberpunk for failing to predict cell phones (those the Expanse seems to have done so after a fashion)
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Feb 21, 2020 06:54
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I just finished reading “Nothing is True and Everything is Possible” and I cannot recommend it enough. It was written in like 2014 and it’s not an expressly political book - it’s about modern Russia and the collapse of truth and meaning in their country. It feels incredibly prescient in a really astonishing breadth. I really strongly recommend it.
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Feb 28, 2020 01:23
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Pathos posted:I just finished reading “Nothing is True and Everything is Possible” and I cannot recommend it enough. It was written in like 2014 and it’s not an expressly political book - it’s about modern Russia and the collapse of truth and meaning in their country. It feels incredibly prescient in a really astonishing breadth. I really strongly recommend it. It's a good book, though I'll caution anyone reading it to take the parts where he talks about how certain things are ingrained in the Russian soul or psyche or w/e with a grain of salt, Pomerantsev is at his best when telling specific stories about how weird Russia can be and at his worst when he starts extrapolating from specific weird instances to try and pontificate about what this means for the soul of Russia as a nation.
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Feb 28, 2020 03:23
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vyelkin posted:It's a good book, though I'll caution anyone reading it to take the parts where he talks about how certain things are ingrained in the Russian soul or psyche or w/e with a grain of salt, Pomerantsev is at his best when telling specific stories about how weird Russia can be and at his worst when he starts extrapolating from specific weird instances to try and pontificate about what this means for the soul of Russia as a nation. Absolutely agreed. It’s solid as a sort often the ground look at what life is like over there. I’d give it a good 8/10.
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Feb 28, 2020 04:32
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i need far left books! where to after these? Epic High Five posted: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
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Mar 15, 2020 22:50
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star eater posted:i need far left books! where to after these? It's not exclusively left wing but I recommend Demanding The Impossible by Peter Marshall as a really broad intro to the history of anarchist thought and action. Libcom almost certainly has it in a pdf. Social Reform or Revolution? By Luxemburg is a good piece on why social democracy won't achieve the goals we as socialists are aiming for.
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Mar 16, 2020 00:30
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wonderful, thanks so much
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Mar 16, 2020 02:28
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Haymarket is offering 10 free extremely good books: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/blogs/112-ten-free-ebooks-from-haymarket-book
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Mar 19, 2020 02:13
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Verso offering 5 as well! https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/4604-free-quarantine-ebooks
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Mar 19, 2020 17:15
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wrong thread
Alhazred has issued a correction as of 19:34 on Mar 19, 2020 |
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Mar 19, 2020 19:21
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EHF what is the best Ursula K. Le Guin book for someone who has never read her work before?
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Mar 30, 2020 20:16
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C-Euro posted:EHF what is the best Ursula K. Le Guin book for someone who has never read her work before? The Lathe of Heaven is a great place to start, it's novella-length but really shows off the strange and wonderful places her stories can go, and her skill as a writer
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Mar 30, 2020 23:26
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Epic High Five posted:The Lathe of Heaven is a great place to start, it's novella-length but really shows off the strange and wonderful places her stories can go, and her skill as a writer Thanks, buying some books from my hometown bookstore that's struggling with lockdown hell, and am finally going to read some of her stuff. Spent a long time looking at a copy of Left Hand of Darkness too.
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Mar 30, 2020 23:30
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C-Euro posted:Word, buying some books from my hometown bookstore that's struggling with lockdown hell, and am finally going to read some of her stuff. The Word for World is Forest is also good, and short, touches on settler colonialism and environmentalism books like The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed are incredible but a lot meatier, but like with Lathe will have you sitting and contemplating them for weeks after
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Mar 30, 2020 23:32
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The Dispossessed had a huge effect on my life. I recommend it to any leftist that wishes to see a better world. The Left Hand of Darkness had some of the most beautiful passages I've read in a scifi/fantasy.
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Mar 30, 2020 23:33
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Gonna start with Lathe, but maybe I should dump my cart for all Le Guin books lol
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Mar 31, 2020 02:24
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after spending almost 3 years reading up on Roman history and various Roman-related fiction (Roma Sub Rosa series by Steven Saylor is pretty good historical mystery), I'm just about burnt out on it. At some point I'm going to go back and revisit the Crisis of the Third Century, though. I want to learn about the USSR now, but I don't have patience for the long dry tomes. I have Everything was Forever, Until it was No More already on my Kindle. What's some other good pop-history-type books about the USSR, some good historical fiction set in the USSR?
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Apr 15, 2020 22:18
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SKULL.GIF posted:I don't have patience for the long dry tomes. quote:I have Everything was Forever, Until it was No More already on my Kindle. lmao you poor fool quote:What's some other good pop-history-type books about the USSR, some good historical fiction set in the USSR? Red Plenty by Francis Spufford is good historical fiction set in the USSR.
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Apr 15, 2020 22:35
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People's History of the World by Chris Harmon Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea by Mark Blyth The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class by Guy Standing ive felt like ive recommended this before, but please let me know if you enjoyed this book or find them problematic in anyway
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Apr 15, 2020 23:22
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Currently reading The Pinochet File by Peter Kornbluh which is a very thorough history of the U.S. government and CIA involvement in Chile from Allende's election through Pinochet's regime, meticulously sourced from the declassified documents. Also reading David Ray Carter's Conspiracy Cinema to take a tour through the fringe world of online cranks and the filmic oeuvre of Alex Jones among others.
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Apr 16, 2020 02:22
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the definitive biography of the life and work of Huey Long is
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Apr 17, 2020 00:38
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i'm looking for books (fiction or non-fiction) on violent political resistance. preferably leaning towards individual actions, rather than large-scale revolts. does anyone have any recommendations?
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Apr 18, 2020 11:35
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We Will Shoot Back: Armed Resistance in the Mississippi Freedom Movement by Akinyeke Umoja
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Apr 18, 2020 16:22
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been meaning to read pynchon for a while and quarantine seems lie a good opportunity to do so...... what's the consensus best/people's fave? gravity's rainbow, yeah? thinking of starting there any of his particularly resonant in or prescient of these times? Wraith of J.O.I. has issued a correction as of 20:35 on May 3, 2020 |
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May 3, 2020 20:32
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In re: Ursula Le Guin, I was far more entranced by the Earthsea series than by the Left Hand of Darkness which I found a bit too... on the nose. I really enjoyed the writing in Earthsea. The Dispossessed was also very very good. Leftist theory: I really want to recommend Thorstein Veblen. The Theory of the Leisure Class was an awesome read because it's an in-depth look at the class nature of leisure and consumption, and it is not too hard.
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May 4, 2020 08:06
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Wraith of J.O.I. posted:been meaning to read pynchon for a while and quarantine seems lie a good opportunity to do so...... what's the consensus best/people's fave? gravity's rainbow, yeah? thinking of starting there I'm not an expert by any means, but I would actually suggest V as a starting point, as it will tell you what to expect of Pynchon and Gravity's Rainbow, while being a great book of it's own. I was amazed when i first read it. And it certainly is dripping with substance, although with a very ironic view of everything. I found the southwestern african chapter specially compelling. While i've not read it, if you're not sure you will like the more experimental side (in terms of language and structure), i've also seen Intrinsic Vice recommended as more straightforward and accessible than his other books, while keeping the Pynchon qualities.
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May 4, 2020 11:58
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Wraith of J.O.I. posted:been meaning to read pynchon for a while and quarantine seems lie a good opportunity to do so...... what's the consensus best/people's fave? gravity's rainbow, yeah? thinking of starting there I agree with what Kefahuchi_son already mentioned, but I'd add that Gravity's Rainbow is also perfectly fine to start with itself. If you're hesitant and really just want to dip a toe in first, then The Crying of Lot 49 is a short self contained narrative. It has a few more Pynchon-y digressions than Inherent Vice (which is basically pynchon does The Long Goodbye), but structurally it's not too crazy. I also really enjoyed Mason & Dixon, but it's different enough from his other books that I wouldn't recommend it for the consensus choice.
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May 4, 2020 14:58
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I've read all of Pynchon's books and I'd say Against the Day is probably my favorite, which doesn't seem to be a common opinion. There's a lot of stuff about miners fighting Pinkertons in it that I really loved, and the way he writes about Europe slowly and inevitably fumbling its way toward World War I is really haunting.
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May 4, 2020 15:10
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thanks for the recs, gravity's rainbow ebook was only $2 so i went with that, prob won't start for a few weeks after i wrap up some time consuming projects. looking forward to it, haven't read fiction in a while anyone read vineland? the 60s hippies --> 80s reaganites plot/synopsis sounds right up my alley
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May 4, 2020 17:21
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Wraith of J.O.I. posted:anyone read vineland? the 60s hippies --> 80s reaganites plot/synopsis sounds right up my alley I did read it, but it was ages ago and I was still in high school; I think a lot of it went over my head. I don't remember it being bad though. If the plot seems like your thing I'd say go for it.
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May 4, 2020 17:58
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I'm itching to read, get this, a BOOK
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May 5, 2020 00:43
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Does anyone know any good reads about the history or function of media pundits?
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May 8, 2020 02:20
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Halfway through The Lathe of Heaven and this book is on some next level poo poo.
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May 13, 2020 06:21
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C-Euro posted:Halfway through The Lathe of Heaven and this book is on some next level poo poo. Yeah it's great, there's just no way to really prepare someone for it so I usually just recommend people go in blind Childhood's End is another example of a similar effect if you're familiar with Clarke's usual fare
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May 13, 2020 06:52
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"The quality of the will to power is, precisely, growth. Achievement is its cancellation. To be, the will to power must increase with each fulfillment, making the fulfillment only a step to a further one. The vaster the power gained, the vaster the appetite for more." Fuckin' A, man
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May 17, 2020 04:20
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This is pretty specific, and it's not for MY Bill Maher watching former radical leftist dad (there are too may of these haha) but I was wondering... Any good books for father's day digging into the failures of liberals/the Democratic Party over the last few decades? Or just how neoliberal capitalism led us here? Anything vaguely around that Ive been mulling over candidates. Basically just want your answers for the best Lib Father radicalizing book.
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Jun 19, 2020 11:47
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For the Democratic Party and professionalism, written in 2016: Listen, Liberal by Thomas Frank For the neoliberal triumphalism which culturally informed the Clinton years: One Market Under God by Thomas Frank
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Jun 19, 2020 11:51
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seconding Listen Liberal Reinventing Collapse by Dmitri Orlov Unspeakable by Chris Hedges and David Talbot
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Jun 19, 2020 11:55
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any recommendations for books about the russian revolution? my experience is that it's a favourite topic for reactionary dickheads so i'm looking for something that wasn't written by a staunch british anti-communist also anything about weimar germany.
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Jul 2, 2020 09:20
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BBJoey posted:any recommendations for books about the russian revolution? my experience is that it's a favourite topic for reactionary dickheads so i'm looking for something that wasn't written by a staunch british anti-communist My usual recommendation is Neil Faulkner's A People's History of the Russian Revolution
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Jul 2, 2020 09:28
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