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try searching around on that standford plato site, they might have something. though I would assume a lot of it'll be philosophy of religion and the like.
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# ? Jun 23, 2017 16:31 |
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# ? Jun 10, 2024 12:57 |
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elbow posted:This is going to sound so wanky, but I'm looking for a recommendation for a philosophy book that deals with the question of why anything exists at all. I know there are some physics books that deal with this question but I find those a little inaccessible, plus it doesn't answer the question of why physics even exists. Yeah, if you are looking at "why us?" go for Camus or Sartre If you want "why anything?" I have no clue
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# ? Jun 23, 2017 17:55 |
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elbow posted:This is going to sound so wanky, but I'm looking for a recommendation for a philosophy book that deals with the question of why anything exists at all. I know there are some physics books that deal with this question but I find those a little inaccessible, plus it doesn't answer the question of why physics even exists. Just get The History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell.
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# ? Jun 23, 2017 20:00 |
Mel Mudkiper posted:If you want "why anything?" I have no clue jim holt's why does the world exist? an existential detective story
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# ? Jun 23, 2017 22:06 |
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I'm really not interested in a religious take on it, maybe I didn't explain myself too well. Thanks for the other recommendations, I'll give those a go!
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# ? Jun 23, 2017 23:56 |
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I'm looking to buy some sort of morbid nonfiction book for a friend's birthday along the lines of In Cold Blood or HHhH or Devil in the White City. Ideally with some similar kind of veneer of intellectual credibility but I'm open to whatever is compelling without being straight-up tabloid garbage. Thanks in advance for any recommendations edit: or just digging into subculture weirdness like the first section of Didion's Slouching Towards Bethlehem would also be welcome UNRULY_HOUSEGUEST fucked around with this message at 03:47 on Jun 27, 2017 |
# ? Jun 27, 2017 03:43 |
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Wrong thread!
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# ? Jun 27, 2017 05:20 |
GimpChimp posted:I'm looking to buy some sort of morbid nonfiction book for a friend's birthday along the lines of In Cold Blood or HHhH or Devil in the White City. Ideally with some similar kind of veneer of intellectual credibility but I'm open to whatever is compelling without being straight-up tabloid garbage. Thanks in advance for any recommendations wisconsin death trip smoke gets in your eyes
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# ? Jun 27, 2017 06:20 |
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GimpChimp posted:I'm looking to buy some sort of morbid nonfiction book for a friend's birthday along the lines of In Cold Blood or HHhH or Devil in the White City. Ideally with some similar kind of veneer of intellectual credibility but I'm open to whatever is compelling without being straight-up tabloid garbage. Thanks in advance for any recommendations 2666 by Roberto Bolano
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# ? Jun 27, 2017 06:22 |
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Hi all, I've been trying to figure out who has done the best translation of Omar Khayyam and seemed to run into a wall. For me 'best' would consist of accurate translations as well as being poetically sound/well put together in English. It seems like most things I've read recommend Richard Le Gallienne or Edward Fitzgerald. I see examples of their work but never the same quatrains for a good comparison of styles. I know Fitzgerald is the oldest, or most famous but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Has anyone read Ahmad Saidi's translations? Anyone with more experience on Omar's work have an opinion on who's work I should read? Thanks!
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# ? Jun 27, 2017 07:06 |
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WAR DOGS OF SOCHI posted:2666 by Roberto Bolano This is neither nonfiction nor a potboiler with literary pretensions.
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# ? Jun 27, 2017 07:39 |
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Mr. Squishy posted:This is neither nonfiction nor a potboiler with literary pretensions. Ugh. You know, you're absolutely right; consider me properly shamed. I don't know what I was thinking.
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# ? Jun 27, 2017 07:54 |
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GimpChimp posted:I'm looking to buy some sort of morbid nonfiction book for a friend's birthday along the lines of In Cold Blood or HHhH or Devil in the White City. Ideally with some similar kind of veneer of intellectual credibility but I'm open to whatever is compelling without being straight-up tabloid garbage. Thanks in advance for any recommendations RE/Search #12: Modern Primitives.
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# ? Jun 27, 2017 12:02 |
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GimpChimp posted:I'm looking to buy some sort of morbid nonfiction book for a friend's birthday along the lines of In Cold Blood or HHhH or Devil in the White City. Ideally with some similar kind of veneer of intellectual credibility but I'm open to whatever is compelling without being straight-up tabloid garbage. Thanks in advance for any recommendations Deborah Blum's The Poisoner's Handbook might suit your friend.
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# ? Jun 27, 2017 13:42 |
Possibly Killer of Little Shepherds (early french serial killer defeated by early forensics) or Blood Work by Holly Tucker (early history of blood transfusions, murder, etc). Neither of those may be quite right though.
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# ? Jun 27, 2017 13:46 |
GimpChimp posted:I'm looking to buy some sort of morbid nonfiction book for a friend's birthday along the lines of In Cold Blood or HHhH or Devil in the White City. Ideally with some similar kind of veneer of intellectual credibility but I'm open to whatever is compelling without being straight-up tabloid garbage. Thanks in advance for any recommendations The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Reveled in Death and Detection and Invented Modern Crime - Judith Flanders Broad reaching and historical, but gets into morbid stuff when discussing individual, influential murder cases. Might be a little too dry in some parts, but it's still pretty cool.
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# ? Jun 28, 2017 01:39 |
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Anyone have any good recommendations for good spooky monster books? I'm working graveyards all week and want to be spooked.
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# ? Jun 28, 2017 03:26 |
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I just finished Let the Right One In and recommend it for graveyard duty. I normally think horror stuff is either uncreative (tropes and jump scares) and lovely or played out and tiresome (Cthuluomgsospoopy and zombiesomglol) but this book wormed its way into my mind and managed to trouble me in a profound manner
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# ? Jun 28, 2017 03:31 |
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Epic High Five posted:I just finished Let the Right One In and recommend it for graveyard duty. Is it very similar to the movies? I really enjoyed them.
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# ? Jun 28, 2017 03:34 |
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de_dust posted:Is it very similar to the movies? I really enjoyed them. I haven't seen the movies, but from what they have been compared to me, the book is the movies with the brake lines cut. More violence, more androgynous tension, more gruesome backstory, more general grossness and brutality If you liked the movies I can't imagine you not loving the book. It's a surprisingly quick read and will convince you that every single person in Sweden is an alcoholic
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# ? Jun 28, 2017 03:39 |
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Epic High Five posted:I haven't seen the movies, but from what they have been compared to me, the book is the movies with the brake lines cut. More violence, more androgynous tension, more gruesome backstory, more general grossness and brutality True. The Swedish movie does a really good job of paring the book down and capturing the main story line, but it does leave out a fair amount, including my absolute favorite scene of all (which is also easily the scariest part of the novel). I think people who aren't big horror fans might have actually preferred the film because of this. Thomas Olde Heuvelt's Hex is tight- think classic King without shoe-horned sex scenes- and seems pretty popular with the goon set.
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# ? Jun 28, 2017 11:22 |
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GimpChimp posted:I'm looking to buy some sort of morbid nonfiction book for a friend's birthday along the lines of In Cold Blood or HHhH or Devil in the White City. Ideally with some similar kind of veneer of intellectual credibility but I'm open to whatever is compelling without being straight-up tabloid garbage. Thanks in advance for any recommendations The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer or if you want something <1000 pages, try The Good Nurse by Charles Graeber (though it skews a bit towards the tabloid type stuff)
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# ? Jun 28, 2017 17:35 |
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Epic High Five posted:I just finished Let the Right One In and recommend it for graveyard duty. Hex, it's a modern classic.
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# ? Jun 28, 2017 19:14 |
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I have a strange request. Can anyone recommend me some good, recent, generic-as-gently caress fantasy? I guess it would technically be epic fantasy, but I'm feeling nostalgic for RA Salvatore and the terrible world of Forgotten realms and Dragonlance novels. It feels like all fantasy has been trying to break free from Tolkien over the last 10 years. Have there been good authors who embraced it and made something interesting from it?
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# ? Jun 28, 2017 23:43 |
Hiro Protagonist posted:I have a strange request. Can anyone recommend me some good, recent, generic-as-gently caress fantasy? I guess it would technically be epic fantasy, but I'm feeling nostalgic for RA Salvatore and the terrible world of Forgotten realms and Dragonlance novels. It feels like all fantasy has been trying to break free from Tolkien over the last 10 years. Have there been good authors who embraced it and made something interesting from it? Seems like you're asking for two different things. Writers that have embraced the Tolkienesque tropes of fantasy but done so in interesting ways generally wouldn't be called "generic-as-gently caress." For "generic-as-gently caress" fantasy, you can always look into new stuff by the folks that wrote your favorite Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms books; Weis, Hickman, and Salvatore are all still active. For authors that have done something interesting with fantasy tropes, I recommend Chris Evans's Iron Elves series.
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# ? Jun 29, 2017 02:49 |
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Ornamented Death posted:Seems like you're asking for two different things. Writers that have embraced the Tolkienesque tropes of fantasy but done so in interesting ways generally wouldn't be called "generic-as-gently caress."
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# ? Jun 29, 2017 04:21 |
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I realize this is a niche request, but are there any good novels or short stories told from the perspective of a sweatshop worker?
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# ? Jun 29, 2017 19:37 |
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Adib posted:I realize this is a niche request, but are there any good novels or short stories told from the perspective of a sweatshop worker? The Jungle by Upton Sinclair?
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# ? Jun 29, 2017 19:42 |
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Looking for something in the same vein as People Who Eat Darkness: Love, Grief and a Journey into Japan's Shadows
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# ? Jun 29, 2017 22:27 |
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Adib posted:I realize this is a niche request, but are there any good novels or short stories told from the perspective of a sweatshop worker? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC11II/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
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# ? Jun 30, 2017 16:32 |
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Hiro Protagonist posted:I have a strange request. Can anyone recommend me some good, recent, generic-as-gently caress fantasy? I guess it would technically be epic fantasy, but I'm feeling nostalgic for RA Salvatore and the terrible world of Forgotten realms and Dragonlance novels. It feels like all fantasy has been trying to break free from Tolkien over the last 10 years. Have there been good authors who embraced it and made something interesting from it? This is how I feel about Brandon Sanderson's entire oeuvre, YMMV
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# ? Jun 30, 2017 16:33 |
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Could someone recommend me some books on aging heroes? Where the old badass comes out of retirement for one more job. It can be fiction/mystery/fantasy etc...
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# ? Jul 1, 2017 05:03 |
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Hughmoris posted:Could someone recommend me some books on aging heroes? Where the old badass comes out of retirement for one more job. It can be fiction/mystery/fantasy etc... Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorpe, the book Die Hard was based on. The John McClain character is like 60-something years old.
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# ? Jul 1, 2017 06:42 |
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Hughmoris posted:Could someone recommend me some books on aging heroes? Where the old badass comes out of retirement for one more job. It can be fiction/mystery/fantasy etc...
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# ? Jul 1, 2017 06:43 |
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True Grit.
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# ? Jul 1, 2017 06:59 |
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Hughmoris posted:Could someone recommend me some books on aging heroes? Where the old badass comes out of retirement for one more job. It can be fiction/mystery/fantasy etc... Fantasy-wise, David Gemmell's Legend is the first thing that comes to mind.
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# ? Jul 1, 2017 12:25 |
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Budgie Jumping posted:Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorpe, the book Die Hard was based on. The John McClain character is like 60-something years old. Tiggum posted:I read it a while ago so I can't guarantee I'm remembering it accurately, but I think In Hero Years... I'm Dead was pretty decent? Zesty Mordant posted:True Grit. Selachian posted:Fantasy-wise, David Gemmell's Legend is the first thing that comes to mind. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll give these a look.
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# ? Jul 2, 2017 21:06 |
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Franchescanado posted:Yes. I just finished Sirens of Titan and it was such a good read. That and Mother Night are so awesome, I'm so glad I gave Vonnegut a second try after Slaughterhouse Five didn't interest me much.
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# ? Jul 4, 2017 22:52 |
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Any good self help books? Not with super metaphorical stuff like "find yourself" "take control of mind and soul" that stuff just turns me off whenever I read that on the cover of self help.
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# ? Jul 5, 2017 02:54 |
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# ? Jun 10, 2024 12:57 |
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Rolo posted:I just finished Sirens of Titan and it was such a good read. That and Mother Night are so awesome, I'm so glad I gave Vonnegut a second try after Slaughterhouse Five didn't interest me much. Glad you enjoyed it! I always enjoy reading Vonnegut, even Player Piano is a cut above many other novels of it's ilk. Ulio posted:Any good self help books? Not with super metaphorical stuff like "find yourself" "take control of mind and soul" that stuff just turns me off whenever I read that on the cover of self help. Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl.
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# ? Jul 5, 2017 04:01 |