CSPAM Book club for book matters and also reading!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > CSPAM Book club for book matters and also reading!

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GobiasIndustries: Dec 14, 2007; Lipstick Apathy

I am excited to read a book again

# ? Apr 19, 2017 23:06

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# ? Apr 29, 2024 06:59

Baloogan: Dec 5, 2004; Fun Shoe

anyone uh started it?

# ? Apr 22, 2017 06:01

death sext: Nov 4, 2011

I have. It's going to be a quiet, rainy weekend so I expect I'll get a good amount read. Enjoying it so far, and really looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts on it. Both from the experts and the fellas like me who are wandering into new territory.

# ? Apr 22, 2017 16:45

eonwe: Aug 11, 2008; Lipstick Apathy

Baloogan posted:

anyone uh started it?

# ? Apr 22, 2017 16:51

deadgoon: Dec 4, 2014; by FactsAreUseless

Baloogan posted:

An Eternal State

�It had never even occurred to me that in the Soviet Union anything could ever change. Let alone that it could disappear. No one expected it. Neither children, nor adults. There was a complete impression that everything was forever.� So spoke Andrei Makarevich, the famous songwriter and musician, in a televised interview (1994). In his published memoirs, Makarevich later remembered that he, like millions of Soviet citizens, had always felt that he lived in an eternal state (vechnoe gosudarstvo) (2002, 14). It was not until around 1986 and 1987, when reforms of perestroika (reconstruction) were already afoot, that the possibility of the socialist system not lasting forever even entered his mind. Many others have described a similar experience of the profound feeling of the Soviet system�s permanence and immutability, and the complete unexpectedness of its collapse. And yet, Makarevich and many Soviet people also quickly discovered another peculiar fact: despite the seeming abruptness of the collapse, they found themselves prepared for it. A peculiar paradox became apparent in those years: although the system�s collapse had been unimaginable before it began, it appeared unsurprising when it happened.

When the policies of perestroika and glasnost� (openness, public discussion) were introduced in 1985, most people did not anticipate that any radical changes would follow. These campaigns were thought to be no different from the endless state-orchestrated campaigns before them: campaigns that came and went, while life went on as usual. However, within a year or two the realization that something unimaginable was taking place began to dawn on the Soviet people. Many speak of having experienced a sudden �break of consciousness� (perelom soznania) and �stunning shock� (sil�neishii shok) quickly followed by excitement and readiness to participate in the transformation. Although different people experienced that moment differently, the type of experience they describe is similar, and many remember it vividly.

that sounds really sad idk if i can handle that book

# ? Apr 22, 2017 21:33

deadgoon: Dec 4, 2014; by FactsAreUseless

i miss uncle joe

# ? Apr 22, 2017 21:34

Captain_Maclaine: Sep 30, 2001; Every moment I'm alive, I pray for death!

deadgoon posted:

that sounds really sad idk if i can handle that book

I haven't had a chance to read it yet as my copy hasn't come, but I had the chance to visit post-Soviet Russia very shortly after the breakup of the USSR (1993) and the attitude of people I met there was almost universally one of remarkable hope and optimism, like it was the dawn of a new day and that maybe, just maybe, things were finally starting to get better in Russia.

Oh, if only we all had seen what was coming next.

# ? Apr 23, 2017 00:40

Fidel Castronaut: Dec 25, 2004; Houston, we're Havana problem.

With finals week coming up and moving I am probably going to catch y'all on the second round, though I'll probably pick this book up sometime this summer and then read through the comments.

# ? Apr 24, 2017 00:00

Comrade Cheggorsky: Aug 20, 2011

i have started reading candide and hell, its real good

# ? Apr 24, 2017 00:21

Sir Tonk: Apr 18, 2006; Can't post for 5 hours!; Young Orc

Baloogan posted:

anyone uh started it?

its in the mail

# ? Apr 24, 2017 00:44

Captain_Maclaine: Sep 30, 2001; Every moment I'm alive, I pray for death!

Sir Tonk posted:

its in the mail

# ? Apr 24, 2017 03:18

Relevant Tangent: Nov 18, 2016; Tangentially Relevant

I'm reading it. The author sure hates binaries.

# ? Apr 24, 2017 03:21

crazy cloud: Nov 7, 2012; by Cyrano4747; Lipstick Apathy

Relevant Tangent posted:

I'm reading it. The author sure hates binaries.

well, binaries are the source of all suffering, so if you're going to hate a thing that's not a bad choice

this book looks super interesting and I want to read it I'm gonna jump in the discord to try to get some help with procurement

# ? Apr 24, 2017 03:35

Shageletic: Jul 25, 2007

Reading the first chapter right now, feels like an extended New Yorker article, which is extremely my jam. So far how much that can happen in a short amount of time (months) seems to be the big thing to draw from. Feels like it could be paired pretty well with that BBC doc on Hypernormalization.

# ? Apr 24, 2017 22:35

mormonpartyboat: Jan 14, 2015; by Reene

the book should be in tomorrow yee

# ? Apr 24, 2017 22:50

succ: Nov 11, 2016; by Cyrano4747

im reading it but work loving sucks

# ? Apr 25, 2017 12:56

mormonpartyboat: Jan 14, 2015; by Reene

im reading this book

# ? Apr 26, 2017 21:27

Epic High Five: Jun 5, 2004

For the people who have just or have yet to receive the book, is the current deadline okay or would you like to see a 1 week extension?

# ? Apr 26, 2017 21:29

limp dick calvin: Sep 1, 2006; Strepitoso. Vedete? Una meraviglia.

I think it's okay. I was looking to hammer this book out over the weekend

# ? Apr 26, 2017 21:35

Captain_Maclaine: Sep 30, 2001; Every moment I'm alive, I pray for death!

Epic High Five posted:

For the people who have just or have yet to receive the book, is the current deadline okay or would you like to see a 1 week extension?

I still haven't gotten mine so an extra week'd be nice.

# ? Apr 26, 2017 21:39

Epic High Five: Jun 5, 2004

Captain_Maclaine posted:

I still haven't gotten mine so an extra week'd be nice.

you aren't the only one I've seen still waiting on it, so yeah I'm extending it another week. Please face to OP

# ? Apr 27, 2017 00:38

mormonpartyboat: Jan 14, 2015; by Reene

so far its p interesting even tho its also Why I Hate Academic Writing Dot Text

# ? Apr 27, 2017 18:19

Slamhound: Mar 27, 2010

Finally got my copy (fygm).

Now I just have to learn to read.

# ? Apr 28, 2017 03:42

Relevant Tangent: Nov 18, 2016; Tangentially Relevant

mormonpartyboat posted:

so far its p interesting even tho its also Why I Hate Academic Writing Dot Text

yeah, this

# ? Apr 28, 2017 12:57

Baloogan: Dec 5, 2004; Fun Shoe

ive read chapters 1 2 and 3

and 3 has some great bits, made me laugh

also lol by the time u get to chapter 2 u will realize why i recommended this book :3:

reminder u can get a digital copy on the chat thing that someone else can link

quote:

The institutional power the Komsomol delegated to its authorized representatives was everywhere redeployed for the creation of �normal life.� The Komsomol committees became sites for this production. Their members were increasingly chosen according to the principle of belonging to svoi. Irina describes the composition of her committee in the early 1980s:

Anastasia, my close friend and a very energetic and bright person, was elected to the Komsomol committee. Soon she started feeling lonely there without me and decided to bring me in. So I ended up on the Komsomol committee �out of friendship� [po druzhbe]. Eventually, when Anastasia left to join the Communist Party � I started feeling lonely on the committee without her and arranged for my other friend Natalia to get elected to it too. After that we attracted another friend, and eventually built a fantastic Komsomol committee that consisted almost exclusively of friends. I have very warm memories of that committee.

Building the committee on these principles meant that its members shared an understanding that many texts and assignments were performed at the level of form, with the constative meanings ignored, and that critical discussion of this practice would usually be avoided�a practice that would be difficult to maintain if the committee included activists. Komsomol Committees therefore became sites of deterritorialization. Natalia recalls, �We liked to gather in the committee room for a meeting. Naturally, this took place during working hours. We would first quickly discuss some Komsomol issues, and then we would sit around for hours doing our own thing, chatting with each other, drinking tea, and generally avoiding regular [obychnuiu] [library] work.�

# ? May 1, 2017 01:27

Baloogan: Dec 5, 2004; Fun Shoe

oh and spoiler alert

:siren:

the ussr dissolved and is no more
:siren:

quote:

Natalia and Irina even used a coded phrase, �to leave for the raikom� (uiti v Raikom), that only svoi understood: �If we wanted to go to an art exhibition or to a caf� during work, we told the chair of our department that we needed �to leave for the raikom.�� These techniques of personalizing and domesticating the time, space, institutions, and discourses of the state, by citing authoritative forms, went on at all levels of the ideological hierarchy, including the Communist Party committees that were superior to the Komsomol committees. Occasionally this led to comical situations. Once, Natalia and Irina told the boss of their department at the library that they needed to leave for the raikom. Instead, they went to try out a new pizzeria that had recently opened in the neighborhood. An hour later, the department boss also showed up at the same pizzeria with another senior colleague. They were both members of the party committee and had also left work allegedly for urgent business at the local party raikom. After sitting down at a table they noticed Irina and Natalia. �It was very awkward,� Natalia remembers, �I almost choked laughing. We were sitting at different tables and behaved in the most civilized way, as if everything was fine.�

In her 1983 diary, Lena (born in 1963), a student in the journalism department at Leningrad University, described how an invented authoritative assignment was used by university students for truancy. On June 4, 1983, Lena and her friend Mila, also a student, were talking in front of the seminar room at the university:
Mila says: �Lena, let�s not go to Irina Pavlovna�s [Russian literature] seminar.�
�I wonder how you plan to do that?�
�Let�s say that we have an interview for the student paper with the secretary of the Komsomol committee of the Kozitsky television factory.�
I laugh in response�this is our permanent excuse, since we can�t be bothered to come up with a new one. Mila approaches Irina Pavlovna and with a very preoccupied expression starts: �Irina Pavlovna! In twenty minutes we have to be ��and so on.
I am standing nearby with a pitiful and slightly desperate expression, showing with all my posture that, of course, I would not give up the chance of going to my favorite Russian seminar for any riches of the world. But, alas, the reality is harsh�. What awful things realism does to people! Irina Pavlovna is moved (or pretends to be).
She says: �Of course, girls, you should go.�
And, destroyed by sorrow, we slowly leave. The others stare at our backs with envy. Outside of the building we start jumping with joy.
�So,� says Mila, �where should we eat?�
We are going to the caf� on the corner of Srednii Avenue and 8th Line Street.55

this svoi thing sounds pretty chill
pretending that all the communisty poo poo is meaningless and using the system to chillax with friends is my kind of fully automated space communism

# ? May 1, 2017 01:29

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

For a funny less serious read

Basically a collection of weird only happens in Florida stories and how they are connected to the history of the state.

Also has some Jeb! stories

# ? May 1, 2017 01:31

Helsing: Aug 23, 2003; DON'T POST IN THE ELECTION THREAD UNLESS YOU JOE BIDEN

So technically today is the point at which we're supposed to be finished the book, ya? I'm way behind on account of having just moved countries but I'm reading it now and it's really interesting. Looking forward to discussing it once I'm deeper into it.

# ? May 3, 2017 17:17

Baloogan: Dec 5, 2004; Fun Shoe

i finished it today!

# ? May 3, 2017 17:20

Baloogan: Dec 5, 2004; Fun Shoe

but theres a week extra or something i dunno

# ? May 3, 2017 17:20

Baloogan: Dec 5, 2004; Fun Shoe

i didn't expect to like it as much as i did!

# ? May 3, 2017 17:21

Epic High Five: Jun 5, 2004

Helsing posted:

So technically today is the point at which we're supposed to be finished the book, ya? I'm way behind on account of having just moved countries but I'm reading it now and it's really interesting. Looking forward to discussing it once I'm deeper into it.

We bumped it a week ahead because the book was taking a long time to get so so many people. OP has the deets

# ? May 3, 2017 17:39

deadgoon: Dec 4, 2014; by FactsAreUseless

Baloogan posted:

pretending that all the communisty poo poo is meaningless and using the system to chillax with friends is my kind of fully automated space communism

isnt that how the DSA works

# ? May 4, 2017 10:53

deadgoon: Dec 4, 2014; by FactsAreUseless

how every great Cause works after the initial revolutionary fervor burns out: the common people think, "i'm just a normal person loving around having fun, it's the Party members who are super serious about this poo poo", and the elites think, "i'm just a normal person loving around having fun, it's the People who are super serious about this poo poo"

# ? May 4, 2017 10:54

mormonpartyboat: Jan 14, 2015; by Reene

deadgoon posted:

how every great Cause works after the initial revolutionary fervor burns out: the common people think, "i'm just a normal person loving around having fun, it's the Party members who are super serious about this poo poo", and the elites think, "i'm just a normal person loving around having fun, it's the People who are super serious about this poo poo"

also, paintball teams

# ? May 4, 2017 14:47

Epic High Five: Jun 5, 2004

so it's got the shape of a very interesting book, but not one I feel like I can appreciate or even absorb most of after a long day over a glass of bourbon as is my habit

may have to shake things up a bit to finish this one off

# ? May 6, 2017 03:40

Epic High Five: Jun 5, 2004

*HEADS UP*

Tomorrow at 9pm eastern the CSPAM book club will be meeting up in the Discord to discuss the book. I'll start the next round of voting the next day.

TOMORROW AT 9

BE THERE

# ? May 9, 2017 16:09

Captain_Maclaine: Sep 30, 2001; Every moment I'm alive, I pray for death!

Epic High Five posted:

*HEADS UP*

Tomorrow at 9pm eastern the CSPAM book club will be meeting up in the Discord to discuss the book. I'll start the next round of voting the next day.

TOMORROW AT 9

BE THERE

I have an event downtown tomorrow night that may not be over until then and it'll take me a while to get home afterward, so I may not make it. Have fun, all.

# ? May 10, 2017 20:40

Epic High Five: Jun 5, 2004

Captain_Maclaine posted:

I have an event downtown tomorrow night that may not be over until then and it'll take me a while to get home afterward, so I may not make it. Have fun, all.

Good news then, because it's tonight at 9pm, not tomorrow. I may be late so start without me, I'm being tapped to help set up tech stuff for a big event

# ? May 10, 2017 20:44

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# ? Apr 29, 2024 06:59

Captain_Maclaine: Sep 30, 2001; Every moment I'm alive, I pray for death!

Epic High Five posted:

Good news then, because it's tonight at 9pm, not tomorrow. I may be late so start without me, I'm being tapped to help set up tech stuff for a big event

That'll teach me to not read posts carefully.

# ? May 10, 2017 20:44

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > CSPAM Book club for book matters and also reading!

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