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Chas McGill posted:I'm feeling down about the state of the world due to the news and books like those mentioned above (especially the Jakarta Method, jfc). Does anyone have recommendations for books that describe a better path forward or document occasions where the capitalist/colonialist machine has been stymied? I’d also recommend KSR but The Years of Rice and Salt. An alternate history where the bubonic plague killed 99% of Europe instead of 30%. As a teacher, I also really really liked Anathem by Neal Stephenson. Can’t talk too much about it without spoilers but it traces an alternate history of science evolving in a very different social context. For nonfiction when I feel like that, which is every couple of weeks as I read more awful poo poo, I listen to the Seriously Wrong podcast. Their series on Bookchin/Social Ecology is great and I’ve read a couple of essays by the folks they interview and discuss. Ecology of Freedom is on my list for this year. Minotaurus Rex posted:I’m in the UK so it’s not really necessarily a US-based history I was imagining.. I was under the impression the left/right concept had its start in the French Revolution so before communism and Marx etc. Wasn’t so much looking for histories of specific American anticommunist activities per se tho I can how they’d be relevant to the subject. Not entirely sure what I’m looking for myself here so can only offer these vague intimations Ah sorry, I was worried I misunderstood the question.
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Jan 11, 2024 22:32
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. Any recommendations appreciated
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That’s okay I still appreciate the effort put into your post there! And it could well be relevant as I’m kinda grasping in the dark as to what I’m even asking or looking for answers to! But anyway on another topic I was also looking for criticisms of Buddhism, Buddhist philosophy, Buddhist exceptionalism etc in the way the Abrahamic religions have been criticised and deconstructed in recent years. I’ve been in the process of leaving Buddhism for kinda a while now and am looking for useful resources to help me along with that.
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Jan 12, 2024 08:07
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It's not that exactly, but you might appreciate This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom by Martin Hägglund. He deals with the philosophical underpinnings of what he calls "religious faith" (in contrast to his idea of "secular faith") in a broad sense, and deals with Buddhism as well as the Abrahamic traditions. It's a powerful philosophical argument against the pursuit of a sort of final result (salvation, nirvana, "heaven") as being strictly undesirable and meaningless in terms of our understanding of what human existence is. It's a moving and thought-provoking philosophical text, and he manages to hold the through line in a pretty clear way while developing a fairly sophisticated argument. I've reread it several times.
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Jan 12, 2024 09:50
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My wife recently finished the Green Bone Saga (which was recommended here - thanks for that) and absolutely loving loved it. When I say she "finished" I mean she's gone through each book multiple times already. Are there any similar series y'all would recommend? I saw someone on Reddit mention the War for the Rose Throne series, but I have never heard of that.
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Jan 12, 2024 15:13
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I am half way through kings of paradise and I can say that this book is dark and entertaining. All that it requires you to do is skip over the sex scenes while shaking your head at the fact they didn't even need to exist on any level. Its bleak and gritty otherwise. Good grimdark.
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Jan 13, 2024 17:14
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Kenning posted:It's not that exactly, but you might appreciate This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom by Martin Hägglund. He deals with the philosophical underpinnings of what he calls "religious faith" (in contrast to his idea of "secular faith") in a broad sense, and deals with Buddhism as well as the Abrahamic traditions. It's a powerful philosophical argument against the pursuit of a sort of final result (salvation, nirvana, "heaven") as being strictly undesirable and meaningless in terms of our understanding of what human existence is. It's a moving and thought-provoking philosophical text, and he manages to hold the through line in a pretty clear way while developing a fairly sophisticated argument. I've reread it several times. Looks interesting, thanks!
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Jan 13, 2024 17:41
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Gripweed posted:The Rick Perlstein books in the post directly above yours. They are all about how the post-war consensus in American politics broke down and the modern right formed. They go super in depth but are also very fun and engaging reads. If you want to understand how modern American politics got to the state it’s currently in, you cannot do better than reading those books. tuyop posted:I’d also recommend KSR but The Years of Rice and Salt. An alternate history where the bubonic plague killed 99% of Europe instead of 30%. I also liked Anathem, partly for the positive depiction of learning.
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Jan 13, 2024 21:10
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Looking for a short piece of fiction, like 200-300 pages. I haven’t really read anything written in the past couple of years that isn’t genre fiction so anything new and shortish would be great.
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Jan 17, 2024 13:44
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tuyop posted:Looking for a short piece of fiction, like 200-300 pages. wtf?
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Jan 18, 2024 00:54
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tuyop posted:Looking for a short piece of fiction, like 200-300 pages. The room
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Jan 18, 2024 01:03
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fez_machine posted:wtf? I just finished Lilith’s Brood so
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Jan 18, 2024 01:43
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fez_machine posted:wtf? I was reading a Cool & Lamb novel on a train and the guy next to me asked me "is that, like, a novella?" and I didn't know what to say for a while. It may not have been this exact one but something of similar size: 
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Jan 18, 2024 13:09
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Any recommendations for someone who really liked the game Life is Strange? YA-ish lesbian drama with really likable characters a dash of sci fi and time travel. I also recently read Under the Whispering Door and really liked it - not exactly the same stuff but cozy and gay with some fantasy elements, if that helps. (I’ve read Gideon the Ninth, and at some point I’ll get to the rest of the Locked Tomb if that’s gonna be number one there) SgtScruffy fucked around with this message at 12:46 on Jan 20, 2024 |
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Jan 20, 2024 12:33
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Have you played Gone Home? I'm not sure it's actually a game but I feel like the Venn diagram for people who like one will strongly overlap with people who like the other. Another possibility is Oxenfree. Good writing that for me was a bit undercut by one of the vocal performances but still worthwhile. E: oh this is TBB. Sorry!
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Jan 20, 2024 14:26
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SgtScruffy posted:Any recommendations for someone who really liked the game Life is Strange? YA-ish lesbian drama with really likable characters a dash of sci fi and time travel. You might enjoy Light from Uncommon Stars, though it's pretty far into magical realism for some.
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Jan 20, 2024 15:39
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SgtScruffy posted:Any recommendations for someone who really liked the game Life is Strange? YA-ish lesbian drama with really likable characters a dash of sci fi and time travel. Last Exit
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Jan 20, 2024 16:54
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tuyop posted:Looking for a short piece of fiction, like 200-300 pages. If you want stuff that’s even shorter Cesar Aira has a bunch of stuff sub-100 pages, also New Directions published a collection of super short fiction by various authors last year My slightly longer than 300 page rec is You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman (304 pages to be exact)
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Jan 20, 2024 21:59
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SgtScruffy posted:Any recommendations for someone who really liked the game Life is Strange? YA-ish lesbian drama with really likable characters a dash of sci fi and time travel. it's a TV show but you gotta check out Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury. It's got everything you want in spades except time travel. It's a sci-fi YA lesbian drama full of fun and well fleshed out characters. And I had to stop and think for a moment to be sure it didn't have time travel. Gripweed fucked around with this message at 04:32 on Jan 21, 2024 |
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Jan 21, 2024 04:19
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More than a dash of sci-fi and time travel, but that makes me think of This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. An epistolary novel written between two agents of different timelines each fighting to make sure her future is the one that comes to pass, taunting and flirting and getting more and more emotionally intimate through their communications despite how they've never met.
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Jan 21, 2024 04:45
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tuyop posted:Looking for a short piece of fiction, like 200-300 pages. what do you like, as in themes or settings, etc? how open are you to experimental or non-traditional prose/writing?
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Jan 22, 2024 19:07
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ulvir posted:what do you like, as in themes or settings, etc? how open are you to experimental or non-traditional prose/writing? Oh good question. I’m definitely open minded so I think I’m not quite sure. In the last year I read a bunch of “classics” from the 19th century and especially enjoyed the Jules Verne adventure novels and basically all the stuff I read written by women. Though later, The Master and Margarita was a real standout there, loved that book. In the past I’ve liked some magical realism, particularly Ben Okri, who does sometimes push the boundaries, but usually that’s a miss for me. Other (non-genre?) authors I’ve really enjoyed: Thomas King, Toni Morrison, Junot Diaz, Ling Ma. Edit: for themes: i have been having trouble with violence and military stuff. I put down Ceremony by Leslie Marmot Silko a couple weeks ago because it was brutal that way. And Space Carrier Avalon, same reason, different treatment of course. I like anticolonialism, socialist commie pinko weirdo stuff, stories about teaching or weird pedagogy, and “weird” fiction that otherwise defies genre like some Murakami stuff. tuyop fucked around with this message at 19:35 on Jan 22, 2024 |
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Jan 22, 2024 19:26
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disposablewords posted:More than a dash of sci-fi and time travel, but that makes me think of This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. An epistolary novel written between two agents of different timelines each fighting to make sure her future is the one that comes to pass, taunting and flirting and getting more and more emotionally intimate through their communications despite how they've never met. That was one of the first recommendations I saw other than The Locked Tomb. Unfortunately it just didn’t click for me. It was a real quick read but just felt like it went from “we are mortal enemies!!!” To “wait I am in love with you!!!” in a very inorganic way. It will have a soft spot in my heart because the buzz solely exists because of someone named Biggus Dickus Nicolas or whatever so that is always part of the conversation as a result.
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Jan 23, 2024 12:59
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tuyop posted:I like anticolonialism, socialist commie pinko weirdo stuff, stories about teaching or weird pedagogy, and “weird” fiction that otherwise defies genre like some Murakami stuff. for kind of weird teaching/pedagogy, three recs are Stefan Zweig: Confusion, Hermann Ungar: The Class, and Dag Solstad: Shyness and dignity somewhat/indirectly anticolonial could be Mathias Enard: Compass, you might also enjoy Ignazio Silone: Bread and Wine
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Jan 23, 2024 20:27
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ulvir posted:for kind of weird teaching/pedagogy, three recs are Stefan Zweig: Confusion, Hermann Ungar: The Class, and Dag Solstad: Shyness and dignity Thank you, these all sound awesome.
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Jan 23, 2024 20:52
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Anyone have recommendations for absolute-basic beginner's-level intro to the Arthurian legends? The sort of thing you'd give to literal children. One of the young folks I volunteer with is on a huge knights-in-shining-armor kick and wants to know more, but my in-progress reread of The Once and Future King has made me realize how many assumptions White makes about his reader's knowledge of the Arthur stories. I came to TOAFK having marinated in Arthur stuff from an early age, but I hesitate to recommend it to a teenager with no grounding in this stuff whatsoever. If it has a version on Audible, extra points!
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Jan 24, 2024 04:57
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Kestral posted:Anyone have recommendations for absolute-basic beginner's-level intro to the Arthurian legends? The sort of thing you'd give to literal children. One of the young folks I volunteer with is on a huge knights-in-shining-armor kick and wants to know more, but my in-progress reread of The Once and Future King has made me realize how many assumptions White makes about his reader's knowledge of the Arthur stories. I came to TOAFK having marinated in Arthur stuff from an early age, but I hesitate to recommend it to a teenager with no grounding in this stuff whatsoever. My introduction was The Once And Future King by White, but apparently I've forgotten how dark it can get in later chapters over the years, and you point out a knowledge gap I see. Lots of folks online recommend Rosemary Sutcliffe's books. I also liked the Twain story but it probably would not suit your student's likes (I also read Mallory in elementary school because it was in the school library so take my recommendation for what its worth. I likely didn't follow everything, and got confused by how some of the stories were stand alone and didn't fit into a larger narrative, but I got over it. I should reread it and the Eddas now that I am a grown assed adult) Bilirubin fucked around with this message at 05:29 on Jan 24, 2024 |
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Jan 24, 2024 05:24
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Maybe the Warlord Chronicles? It's a bit more grounded and realistic while still hitting the beats. Also it wouldn't hurt to suggest or offer one of the better Arthurian movies. Obviously opinions do differ here.
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Jan 24, 2024 06:48
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Do not give the Warlord Chronicles books to literal children, they are far and away darker and more adult than The Once and Future King edit: oh I just noticed that the OP said it's a teenager. Even so, the Warlord Chronicles aren't a great recommendation given the level of violence and sex and general cynicism, especially if the appeal of Arthurian legend is the whole shining armor and Knights of the Round Table aspect, given that Cornwell goes out of his way to tell the story in a way that actively undercuts the classic representation of the legends MockingQuantum fucked around with this message at 06:56 on Jan 24, 2024 |
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Jan 24, 2024 06:52
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Kestral posted:Anyone have recommendations for absolute-basic beginner's-level intro to the Arthurian legends? The sort of thing you'd give to literal children. One of the young folks I volunteer with is on a huge knights-in-shining-armor kick and wants to know more, but my in-progress reread of The Once and Future King has made me realize how many assumptions White makes about his reader's knowledge of the Arthur stories. I came to TOAFK having marinated in Arthur stuff from an early age, but I hesitate to recommend it to a teenager with no grounding in this stuff whatsoever. Maybe the Usborne Illustrated Tales Of King Arthur or if that's too young, King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green or Howard Pyle's The Story of King Arthur and His Knights fez_machine fucked around with this message at 08:32 on Jan 24, 2024 |
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Jan 24, 2024 08:26
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Rosemary Sutcliff wrote a well regarded YA/teen retelling of the Arthurian legends, maybe see if that's available?
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Jan 24, 2024 12:02
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Kestral posted:Anyone have recommendations for absolute-basic beginner's-level intro to the Arthurian legends? The sort of thing you'd give to literal children. One of the young folks I volunteer with is on a huge knights-in-shining-armor kick and wants to know more, but my in-progress reread of The Once and Future King has made me realize how many assumptions White makes about his reader's knowledge of the Arthur stories. I came to TOAFK having marinated in Arthur stuff from an early age, but I hesitate to recommend it to a teenager with no grounding in this stuff whatsoever. Howard pyles King arthur books. *with illustrations *, maybe Mary Stewart's crystal cave books depending on age. Past that https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3617881&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1 Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 15:53 on Jan 24, 2024 |
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Jan 24, 2024 15:41
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MockingQuantum posted:Do not give the Warlord Chronicles books to literal children, they are far and away darker and more adult than The Once and Future King I guess that's fair, I read them around 17 and wasn't too put off but it's been over twenty years since then so there are likely better reccs.
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Jan 24, 2024 17:42
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Yngwie Mangosteen posted:I guess that's fair, I read them around 17 and wasn't too put off but it's been over twenty years since then so there are likely better reccs. I think I would have been fine reading them in high school too from a pure content perspective, though there's a couple of pretty rough moments regardless of what age you are, but it probably falls into a pretty grey area in this situation, ie. an adult recommending a book to a young person they're working with in a volunteer context.
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Jan 25, 2024 20:33
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tuyop posted:Looking for a short piece of fiction, like 200-300 pages. One of my recommendations when people ask for a short-ish, entertaining read is The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. It’s about 250 pages and John le Carre does not waste a single word. It is a great example of really tight, engaging writing. Even people that generally aren’t into spy novels seem to enjoy it.
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Jan 26, 2024 02:54
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Smithwick posted:One of my recommendations when people ask for a short-ish, entertaining read is The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. It’s about 250 pages and John le Carre does not waste a single word. It is a great example of really tight, engaging writing. Even people that generally aren’t into spy novels seem to enjoy it.
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Jan 26, 2024 02:56
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MockingQuantum posted:I think I would have been fine reading them in high school too from a pure content perspective, though there's a couple of pretty rough moments regardless of what age you are, but it probably falls into a pretty grey area in this situation, ie. an adult recommending a book to a young person they're working with in a volunteer context. Entirely valid, I just didn't think about it.
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Jan 26, 2024 05:50
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Thanks for the Arthur recommendations, everyone! I might end up reading some of these myself, if I don't go straight to Mallory after this Once and Future King re-read.Hieronymous Alloy posted:Howard pyles King arthur books. *with illustrations *, maybe Mary Stewart's crystal cave books depending on age. My god, you've just solved an old mystery: this is one of the Arthur books I read as a kid, I remember these illustrations! I've been trying to figure out the name of this thing for ages. I read and loved Pyle's Robin Hood in 2023, and now I must at very least grab his Arthur books for my own enjoyment. Reading your description of Pyle's and Green's versions in that goldmined thread, I suspect Pyle is what the kid in question actually wants, and Green is what he'll think he wants because it's shorter. I shall start working on my pitch now.
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Jan 26, 2024 06:55
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Kestral posted:Anyone have recommendations for absolute-basic beginner's-level intro to the Arthurian legends? The sort of thing you'd give to literal children. One of the young folks I volunteer with is on a huge knights-in-shining-armor kick and wants to know more, but my in-progress reread of The Once and Future King has made me realize how many assumptions White makes about his reader's knowledge of the Arthur stories. I came to TOAFK having marinated in Arthur stuff from an early age, but I hesitate to recommend it to a teenager with no grounding in this stuff whatsoever.  e: I have no idea why one of the cat knights is Keith Richards.
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Jan 26, 2024 16:19
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I am looking for a recommendation for a fiction set in an amusement park. I don't care so much about the genre - it could be coming of age, horror, thriller, sci-fi, etc. - so long as the majority of the book is set in an amusement park. I'm not too keen on non-fiction at the moment. I don't need a history of Disney World or anything like that. I'm just itching for a good story with amusement park vibes.
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Jan 27, 2024 00:32
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Jurassic Park sort of Something Wicked This Way Comes
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Jan 27, 2024 00:35
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