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For sure I'll dig in then.
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Aug 21, 2022 21:15
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Any good books about gamblers? I'm thinking something like Uncut Gems, Jacques Demy's Bay of Angels, or the Walter Hill film Hard Times, where the decisions of the characters just pile on top of each other, they can't quit while they're ahead, and the ceiling's gonna come down on them in a hard way from their own actions. I'm not picky on what people are actually gambling on. It doesn't necessarily have to be degenerates, it can also be a portrait of how being a gambler is cool. I'm hoping for a novel, but a good memoir or something sounds fun. I don't gamble, but I always find is compelling (and stressful) in movies, but I can't say I've read a book with those features. edit: I have read Factotum and Post Office, which was horse race gambling. Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 18:43 on Aug 22, 2022 |
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Aug 22, 2022 18:29
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Franchescanado posted:Any good books about gamblers? I'm thinking something like Uncut Gems, Jacques Demy's Bay of Angels, or the Walter Hill film Hard Times, where the decisions of the characters just pile on top of each other, they can't quit while they're ahead, and the ceiling's gonna come down on them in a hard way from their own actions. I'm not picky on what people are actually gambling on. It doesn't necessarily have to be degenerates, it can also be a portrait of how being a gambler is cool. The Noble Hustle is a non-fiction about a guy who won a $10k buy in to the World Series of Poker, and has to quickly learn about the world of pro high stakes poker while struggling with depression. It's not exactly what you're looking for but I think you'd really enjoy it!
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Aug 22, 2022 20:31
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Kvlt! posted:The Noble Hustle is a non-fiction about a guy who won a $10k buy in to the World Series of Poker, and has to quickly learn about the world of pro high stakes poker while struggling with depression. It's not exactly what you're looking for but I think you'd really enjoy it! Oh poo poo, that's Colson Whitehead? I haven't heard of this one, and I like him. Thank you!
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Aug 22, 2022 21:10
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The Hustler and The Color of Money by Walter Tevis are solid -- good portrait of the psychology of a pool shark. Can never go wrong with a collection of Damon Runyon short stories either. I think Runyon On Broadway is the most complete one in print.
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Aug 22, 2022 21:22
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A bit frothier than you probably want, but "The Man with the $100,000 Breasts" by Michael Konik is a very amusing gonzo-type work with anecdotes from a wide variety of gambling environments, in colorful language.
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Aug 22, 2022 22:07
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Please, I'm looking for something like a good analysis of propaganda that tries to formulate the concept of propaganda. More specifically basically like an in depth breakdown of modernFox News, CNN and similar bullshit. History, like the changing of the styles to that in-your-face contrasting color scheme, the changes in reporting over the years, and analyses on the affect on the target audience of broken people. Books, articles, livejournal, w/e
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Aug 23, 2022 03:31
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Feral Integral posted:Please, I'm looking for something like a good analysis of propaganda that tries to formulate the concept of propaganda. More specifically basically like an in depth breakdown of modernFox News, CNN and similar bullshit. History, like the changing of the styles to that in-your-face contrasting color scheme, the changes in reporting over the years, and analyses on the affect on the target audience of broken people. can't go wrong with Manufacturing Consent imo
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Aug 23, 2022 03:37
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Feral Integral posted:Please, I'm looking for something like a good analysis of propaganda that tries to formulate the concept of propaganda. More specifically basically like an in depth breakdown of modernFox News, CNN and similar bullshit. History, like the changing of the styles to that in-your-face contrasting color scheme, the changes in reporting over the years, and analyses on the affect on the target audience of broken people. Malatesta, comrade
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Aug 23, 2022 03:50
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Franchescanado posted:Any good books about gamblers? I'm thinking something like Uncut Gems, Jacques Demy's Bay of Angels, or the Walter Hill film Hard Times, where the decisions of the characters just pile on top of each other, they can't quit while they're ahead, and the ceiling's gonna come down on them in a hard way from their own actions. I'm not picky on what people are actually gambling on. It doesn't necessarily have to be degenerates, it can also be a portrait of how being a gambler is cool.
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Aug 23, 2022 11:30
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Chas McGill posted:Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter is a really good, gritty postwar book involving pool hustling and bad decisions. rollick posted:The Hustler and The Color of Money by Walter Tevis are solid -- good portrait of the psychology of a pool shark. Bandiet posted:A bit frothier than you probably want, but "The Man with the $100,000 Breasts" by Michael Konik is a very amusing gonzo-type work with anecdotes from a wide variety of gambling environments, in colorful language. These all sound great, in addition to Kvlt!'s recommendation. Thanks everyone.
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Aug 23, 2022 12:55
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Feral Integral posted:Please, I'm looking for something like a good analysis of propaganda that tries to formulate the concept of propaganda. More specifically basically like an in depth breakdown of modernFox News, CNN and similar bullshit. History, like the changing of the styles to that in-your-face contrasting color scheme, the changes in reporting over the years, and analyses on the affect on the target audience of broken people. There's not a consensus on the definition of "propaganda" in the academic literature; there was a schism between earlier applied definitions and "like, everything's propaganda when you think about it, duuuude" back in the day with Jacques Ellul's Propaganda and since then it's been a mess, with a lot of elaborate frameworks that mostly provide thin justifications to say "media from sources I don't like is propaganda, and lies from sources I like are the truth". The best book to present the divergent perspectives from this period (and thereby a good source of several conflicting approaches to pick through) is Propaganda: a Pluralistic Perspective, a cold war era book edited by Ted J. Smith III (who's a right-winger, but also doesn't interfere with the other completely opposed authors in the book). The book includes a chapter, "propaganda as a form of communication", by O'Donnell and Jowers which has become really influential (in part because it's relatively well-written and in part because they happen to write one the main undergrad textbook on propaganda, and they use the article as its core). It's also got a chapter by Smith which combines really detailed, accurate descriptions of recent Soviet propaganda activity that looks very familiar today...which then veers off into rant-land by the end, and a lot in-between, including a bunch from the "all mass media is propaganda" morass. If you want to actually drill down on the concepts undergirding propaganda and civic communication, you'll need to read on theory of rhetoric as a foundation. Lloyd Bitzer's Rhetorical situation provides some basic terms that are useful, but it's not very advanced- and a lot of rhetoric is a sort of roiling mass of expansion and contraction when it comes to the scope of the rhetoric definition, same as "propaganda". I'm not aware of any single comprehensive source on how, uh, "Fox News, CNN and similar bullshit" have changed over time- if you're referring to the broadcast news 24/7 channel setup and its design, that's really a relatively narrow subject area with limited applicability. I think the baseline mechanism of the main broadcast sources isn't going to be explained by particular reporting or visual practices (though there are a couple books that focus on Fox methods)- it's just that it's a passive medium that's running continuously, same as talk radio or podcasts. Discendo Vox fucked around with this message at 14:26 on Aug 23, 2022 |
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Aug 23, 2022 14:16
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Feral Integral posted:Please, I'm looking for something like a good analysis of propaganda that tries to formulate the concept of propaganda. More specifically basically like an in depth breakdown of modernFox News, CNN and similar bullshit. History, like the changing of the styles to that in-your-face contrasting color scheme, the changes in reporting over the years, and analyses on the affect on the target audience of broken people. Kinda unrelated, but you might liked Red Carpet: Hollywood, China and the Global Battle For Cultural Supremacy by Erich Schwartzel. It's a history of propaganda in American film and documents all of China's deals, negotiations and tactics to learn our film industry and systems of propaganda to use for themselves, from the late 80's/early 90's to now. It's everything from politcal/business negotiations, film history, uses of propaganda, and a rough breakdown of the cultural wars of the last few decades. It's full of crazy and entertaining anecdotes, making it a very fun read despite the seemingly dry subject matter.
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Aug 23, 2022 14:25
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Discendo Vox posted:There's not a consensus on the definition of "propaganda" in the academic literature; there was a schism between earlier applied definitions and "like, everything's propaganda when you think about it, duuuude" back in the day with Jacques Ellul's Propaganda and since then it's been a mess, with a lot of elaborate frameworks that mostly provide thin justifications to say "media from sources I don't like is propaganda, and lies from sources I like are the truth". The best book to present the divergent perspectives from this period (and thereby a good source of several conflicting approaches to pick through) is Propaganda: a Pluralistic Perspective, a cold war era book edited by Ted J. Smith III (who's a right-winger, but also doesn't interfere with the other completely opposed authors in the book). The book includes a chapter, "propaganda as a form of communication", by O'Donnell and Jowers which has become really influential (in part because it's relatively well-written and in part because they happen to write one the main undergrad textbook on propaganda, and they use the article as its core). It's also got a chapter by Smith which combines really detailed, accurate descriptions of recent Soviet propaganda activity that looks very familiar today...which then veers off into rant-land by the end, and a lot in-between, including a bunch from the "all mass media is propaganda" morass. Oh yeah I read Smith back in my grad courses on propaganda, I thought it was pretty even handed (and I say this as a commie). I don't think I can find the syllabus and its been over a decade unfortunately so I'm struggling to remember titles.
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Aug 23, 2022 16:22
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The Smith chapter (which I've got open in front of me) is, ah, trenchant, especially for the fact that it includes a detailed discussion of, among other things, the KAL 007 "shootdown" and methods of media subversion used to deny it, which has some not very fun current events parallels. otoh the footnotes talk about cultural relativism and "but what about all the communist agents that McCarthy correctly identified?!".
Discendo Vox fucked around with this message at 23:54 on Aug 23, 2022 |
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Aug 23, 2022 23:51
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It's old and more a curiosity than anything else but famed gonzo Sci-Fi writer Cordwainer Smith wrote a book on Psychological Warfare as part of his day job https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48612 fez_machine fucked around with this message at 12:30 on Aug 24, 2022 |
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Aug 24, 2022 12:25
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fez_machine posted:It's old and more a curiosity than anything else but famed gonzo Sci-Fi writer Cordwainer Smith wrote a book on Psychological Warfare as part of his day job I'd heard of this but not read it; it's very useful, thank you!
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Aug 26, 2022 06:06
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If I’ve already read Shuggie Bain should I read Young Mungo? Or move on to my next TBR?
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Aug 26, 2022 22:31
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Is there a recomended book about Mayan civilization written by a BIPOC author?
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Aug 27, 2022 19:47
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ghost house posted:If I’ve already read Shuggie Bain should I read Young Mungo? Or move on to my next TBR?
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Aug 28, 2022 03:09
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Just a warning though, I'm not sure anything Welsh has written past like 2005 was worthwhile in any way. I guess Skagboys was okay (who needed a Trainspotting prequel though), but the rest of it was a bit of a mess, didn't get as far as A Decent Ride or The Blade Artist but they (not to mention Dead Men's Trousers) look kinda...shite. The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs and Crime were pretty crap, couldn't even get through The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins. He really lost his mojo. Welsh has some good entertaining books but it's been pretty messy since like, the mid Bush era.
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Aug 28, 2022 06:35
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Any near-future climate-focused sci fi recommendations out there? I just finished Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson, would love to read more books in this vein. Not a KSR fan, so not really interested in reading Ministry of the Future.
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Aug 28, 2022 16:21
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Punkin Spunkin posted:Just a warning though, I'm not sure anything Welsh has written past like 2005 was worthwhile in any way. I guess Skagboys was okay (who needed a Trainspotting prequel though), but the rest of it was a bit of a mess, didn't get as far as A Decent Ride or The Blade Artist but they (not to mention Dead Men's Trousers) look kinda...shite. The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs and Crime were pretty crap, couldn't even get through The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins. He really lost his mojo. I appreciate his weirdness, even if his later works are not exactly good.
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Aug 28, 2022 17:43
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Are there any pretty good to okay later Welsh books you'd recommend to me? Like I said I fell off around Siamese Twins, but I loved his work up until a certain point. The places he's taken Begbie seem rather odd n silly
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Aug 28, 2022 18:36
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mr. unhsib posted:Any near-future climate-focused sci fi recommendations out there? I just finished Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson, would love to read more books in this vein. The Water Knife, by Paulo Bacigalupi.
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Aug 28, 2022 19:22
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Punkin Spunkin posted:Are there any pretty good to okay later Welsh books you'd recommend to me? Like I said I fell off around Siamese Twins, but I loved his work up until a certain point. The places he's taken Begbie seem rather odd n silly Sex Lives of Siamese Twins, but also 100% understand being turned off by it. I've enjoyed a fair amount of trippy sci fi in my life and probably wouldn't have enjoyed it without that context. And i definitely understand not liking where Begbie got taken in A Blade Artist. I mostly stuck with it it because I'd already read several books featuring the guy and it was interesting to see where Welsh stuck him, even if it was...not great. So yeah, I guess I mostly agree with you. For someone new to Welsh, start at Trainspotting and if you're still loving things by the time you get to Porno, carry on. If you don't, maybe read Skagboys too just for more on the core cast of characters. At that point, you've read his best work.
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Aug 28, 2022 20:21
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Khizan posted:The Water Knife, by Paulo Bacigalupi. Anything in his Wind-Up Girl universe really
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Aug 28, 2022 20:27
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mr. unhsib posted:Any near-future climate-focused sci fi recommendations out there? I just finished Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson, would love to read more books in this vein. Heavy Weather by Bruce Sterling is pretty good, Mother of Storms by John Barnes is ok but has some loving WIERD SEX STUFF in it, so, maybe not?
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Aug 28, 2022 22:10
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My wife and I read The Anomaly by Michael Rutger and we liked the spookiness of it. Can anyone recommend anything similar?
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Aug 28, 2022 22:37
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stealie72 posted:Have you read the entire Irvine Welsh bibliography yet? I couldn't get Welsh out of my head while reading Shuggie Bain. I have, I agree! I started Young Mungo and just kinda felt that while very good, it feels like an older Shuggie with a different goofy name. Definitely willing to pick it back up if that’s not the case, but my TBR stack is ever-growing.
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Aug 28, 2022 22:51
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Is Edward Gibbons Rise and Fall still a relevant read? I’m reading Master of the Senate by Caro right now (I’ve been trucking through Years after reading The Power Broker in Spring) and found out while writing the 3rd volume he alternated between Gibbon and Tolstoy. I would like to commit myself to another long book series but if it’s woefully outdated, I would be dissuaded. Also, if there were another survey of the History of Rome in smaller parts but had some of the Caro knack for prose, I would be into that as well 
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Aug 30, 2022 01:26
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what books are like the TV show Miami Vice? I've just gotten absolutely obsessed with the show as of late but I want to find books that strike a similar tone
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Aug 30, 2022 05:34
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LurchinTard posted:what books are like the TV show Miami Vice? I've just gotten absolutely obsessed with the show as of late but I want to find books that strike a similar tone Elmore Leonard wrote several novels set in south Florida in that time frame. Some from the perspective of cops, some from criminals. If you like the movie Jackie Brown, you'd probably like the book as well (Rum Punch). As far as dialogue goes, he's a master of it, IMO. Edit: Found a list - https://crimereads.com/elmore-leonard-florida-man/ Lucid Nonsense fucked around with this message at 19:24 on Aug 31, 2022 |
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Aug 31, 2022 19:19
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LurchinTard posted:what books are like the TV show Miami Vice? I've just gotten absolutely obsessed with the show as of late but I want to find books that strike a similar tone Also check out Charles Willeford's Hoke Mosely series. First one is Miami Blues.
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Aug 31, 2022 19:23
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Travis Mcgee books also.
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Aug 31, 2022 20:29
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If we're talking Florida crime novels, I'll put in a word for Carl Hiaasen as well, although Hiaasen's style is more satirical than straight crime.
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Sep 1, 2022 06:22
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LurchinTard posted:what books are like the TV show Miami Vice? I've just gotten absolutely obsessed with the show as of late but I want to find books that strike a similar tone I watched that in recent years too, lot of fun, really stylish and unique. As a side film recommendation, that John Woo movie The Killer really scratches a lot of the cool melodrama itch from that time. Ditto A Better Tomorrow etc. Miami Vice's tone is such a unique blend of charming buddy stuff, hard boiled pulpy detective action, over the top stylish operatic melodrama, some good nutty comedy relief, classic 80s. Wish I'd read more to be able to recommend something with that vibe, but I was thinking Elmore Leonard too. Swag is a cool one, from the criminals perspective, and has a dynamic of two lead dudes and their relationship there. Has that kind of hanging out in a seedy world, bit of devil may care vibe to it. So I came to ask, any really accessible fun to read space opera adventures? I give it that preamble since a lot of the sci-fi section to me looks a bit inaccessible for my taste, at least at the moment. I enjoy that show The Expanse, but even that book series for example looks a little bit too dry for me at the moment. When I hear space opera, I get the idea that there are a lot of cool fun books out there which might appeal to me. Since I love Mobile Suit Gundam, Star Wars, Captain Harlock, dig Firefly, love Cowboy Bebop, Wrath of Khan, Irresponsible Captain Tylor etc. But when I read the preview pages for most books with spaceships, I'm not finding that kind of fun page-turner for me. For writing style I'm drawn to stuff like Elmore Leonard as mentioned, and for sci-fi I really love that Harry Harrison Stainless Steel Rat is Born book from the 80s, and intend to check out the rest of that series sometime. My guess is I'm probably looking for a space opera that is from 1980s or newer, influenced by Star Wars probably. Also a side question, any books that capture that vibe of the Space Quest games? So looking for both swashbuckling epics and some nutty comedy adventures, or some mix of the two. Heavy Metal fucked around with this message at 08:13 on Sep 1, 2022 |
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Sep 1, 2022 07:25
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Selachian posted:If we're talking Florida crime novels, I'll put in a word for Carl Hiaasen as well, although Hiaasen's style is more satirical than straight crime.
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Sep 1, 2022 17:42
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Heavy Metal posted:So I came to ask, any really accessible fun to read space opera adventures? I give it that preamble since a lot of the sci-fi section to me looks a bit inaccessible for my taste, at least at the moment. I enjoy that show The Expanse, but even that book series for example looks a little bit too dry for me at the moment. When I hear space opera, I get the idea that there are a lot of cool fun books out there which might appeal to me. Since I love Mobile Suit Gundam, Star Wars, Captain Harlock, dig Firefly, love Cowboy Bebop, Wrath of Khan, Irresponsible Captain Tylor etc. But when I read the preview pages for most books with spaceships, I'm not finding that kind of fun page-turner for me. Honestly, your best bet is in the EU licensed fiction of tv and movie sci-fi. But if you want mainline science fiction recommendations, here's a few. Much of Sci-Fi swashbuckling also happens under the term Planetary Romance, where there's not much space travel but plenty of incident. Burroughs is the obvious answer here but also check out Leigh Brackett (she wrote the Empire Strikes Back) and C.L. Moore. The works that inspired the phrase "Space Opera" and much space opera anime is E.E. Doc Smith's work. If you like insane solar system destruction anime escalation these set the template. Very very dated though. Jack Vance's Demon Princes series and Planet of Adventure series are both great and should fit your requirements. Especially the Demon Princes series as they're essentially a collection of loosely connected revenge heist stories. Matthew Hughes' Archonate series which ups the swashbuckling in a Jack Vance inspired universe. Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorksogian sequence is very approachable. Edwin Charles Tubb might be worth checking out. Ian M. Banks varies on the amount of swashbuckling but his work is usually pretty fun to read. David Zindell's Neverness Walter Jon Williams has a number of good swashbucklers but check out the Maijstral series.
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Sep 2, 2022 01:38
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Appreciated! On the licensed books thing, do you have any that you particularly like and recommend? I haven't been too interested in that so far, just mentioned titles from other mediums to kinda show some stuff I enjoy in the genre.
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Sep 2, 2022 01:46
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