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Two entirely unconnected requests: 1. Can anybody recommend me well-written post-apocalyptic themed stuff. I'm talking about stuff similar to The Road or I am Legend. Not so much interested in Sci-fi explanations of whatever the event is, but about people surviving in the aftermath. I really loved The Road, so something like that would be wonderful. 2. Has anybody got any recommendations for a book about Quantum Physics? One that explains the ideas well to a non-scientist. I don't want it overly dumbed down, but I stopped physics at A-level (age 18), and although I know about relativity I'd like to learn about Quantum properly.
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Jul 28, 2009 15:52
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Can anyone recommend me good accounts of drug use (real or imaginary) in fiction? Preferably hallucinogens, but anything interesting and well written.
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Jul 8, 2010 00:05
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Thanks for the drugs recommendations, I'd read Naked Lunch and Confessions..., I've ordered a few of the others. I've just finished Flow My Tears by Philip K Dick. What else should I read by him?
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Jul 8, 2010 20:45
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OrangeGuy posted:1.) First, could anyone recommend a good, relevant, informative, and current book as an introduction to knowing more about Africa as a whole? While I know much about the basics when it comes to Africa, I am fairly ignorant when it comes to knowing specifics about African history/politics/culture, especially when distinguishing between the events and story of each particular country. While I know better than to automatically label Africa as a single, homogeneous state as many do, I feel uneasy with my relative lack of knowledge when it comes to understanding or knowing Africa as a continent. Still, it's hard to imagine a book that could cover the essentials about the various aspects about Africa without being too short as to oversimplify things while not being too long as to be inaccessible. You want either Nugent or Cooper - Africa Since Independence and Africa since 1940. They were the introductory texts on my african politics course at uni, they give a really goo introduction without getting too detailed. After that you'll want books either focussed on an individual issue or country, but as a continent wide study they're both excellent. quote:4.) Although I am going to be in India in the Fall (and arriving in Delhi to start with), I am actually going to be doing intensive Tibetan studies and will have plenty of material to read with respect to Tibetan history and Sino-Tibetan affairs. Try India: A Million Mutinies Now, by Naipul. It's huge, he basically travels round the country meeting and interviewing people and hearing about their lives and beliefs. It was controversial because it's quite negative in it's opinions of indians, but i found it really interesting. It's from 1990, he also did one in 1960 (An Area of Darkness) and another in 1975 (A Wounded Civilization) but I've not read either of them. Slightly specific request: I want a copy of Either / Or, lots of people say the Penguin copy is badly abridged, is this true? The other copy is stupidly expensive. but apparently the Penguin misses out earlier sections which you need to understand later parts? delicious beef fucked around with this message at 21:57 on Aug 2, 2010 |
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Aug 2, 2010 21:41
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Fitzgerald me please. I've just finished reading The Diamond as Big as the Ritz (the short story collection), I'd like to try some of his novels. What's good/bad/indifferent?
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Aug 3, 2010 17:22
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Anyone read The Spirit Level? It sounds quite interesting, but I'm curious as to how well the arguments hold up
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Aug 8, 2010 15:00
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I've just finished Ubik, looking for some Philip K. Dick recommendations. So far I've read Man in the High Castle, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, A Scanner Darkly and Flow My Tears. Oh, and the Minority Report short story collection. What should I pick up next?
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Aug 12, 2010 18:32
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Underflow posted:Das Glasperlenspiel (The Glass Bead Game). Yeah, this. Also you might enjoy Mann - The Magic Mountain especially.
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Aug 15, 2010 23:53
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4 or 5 people have independently recommended me Cotzee in the past week, what's the way thing to start with?
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Aug 20, 2010 00:06
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The Ninth Layer posted:I've started reading Philip K. Dick and am really enjoying his writing style. I started with VALIS and have since finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and The Man in the High Castle. Does anyone have a good pick for a book of his I should read next, or other authors/books that are similar to Dick's writing style? Ubik, and Flow My Tears.
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Aug 24, 2010 14:10
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Ckwiesr posted:I'm looking for some good Atheist reading. I've heard about the God deliusion, and checked the reviews on Amazon, doesn't really seem like my style. If anyone can suggest where to start on this subject I'd really appreciate it. Read Existentialism is a Humanism. It's a lecture by Sartre on why not believing in God is incredibly empowering. You also might want to look up some of Bertrand Russell's stuff on atheism, it's been too long since I read him so I'm not the best person to ask, but he was a (brilliant) professional philosopher and his stuff is very accessible and well argued. I'd got about 40 pages into the God Delusion before wanting to smash something - it's probably the worst example of this 'new atheism', snobbish, badly reasoned, vitriolic, and ignorant of a lot of the important philosophical arguments about religion. Some people love it, but I'd advise staying clear. Edit: I've just finished Love in the Time of Cholera. Other than Hundred Years, is Marquez's other stuff worth reading? I've been told I should try Borges next, neither of my local second hand bookshops have anything of his, so any suggestions on where to start? delicious beef fucked around with this message at 02:49 on Sep 3, 2010 |
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Sep 2, 2010 21:58
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Ckwiesr posted:I'm looking for some good Atheist reading. I've heard about the God deliusion, and checked the reviews on Amazon, doesn't really seem like my style. If anyone can suggest where to start on this subject I'd really appreciate it. If you're still looking for something then you might want George Smith's 'atheism: the case against god', which is a much more rigorous, well argued version of Dawkin's book.
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Sep 12, 2010 12:03
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Anybody recommend any good books on (illegal) drugs? I've just read The Candy Machine and Shrooms, I'm looking for things along those veins - cultural histories or books about the trade flows and general use, or any good books about experiences of taking drugs (stuff like Doors of Perception, or Confessions of an English Opium Eater).
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Sep 17, 2010 23:41
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I've not read it yet, but sounds like you want Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks
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Sep 18, 2010 01:05
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Whoever wanted the photobook of 50/60s film stars, there's a brilliant book of Audrey Hepburn photos by Bob Willoughby. It's quite expensive, but huge and gorgeous, and I really recommend it.
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Sep 24, 2010 14:53
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Looking for books about what 'the good life' is or how to find meaning in life, in the guise of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance or The Really Hard Problem.
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Oct 24, 2010 21:38
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Bad Bromance posted:Can anyone recommend some good dying earth/apocalyptic books? And another more specific thing, something that deals with the ruins and whats left from a long dead civilization (ours, a fictional one, anything). I'm in kind of a morbid mood Read On The Beach by Neville Shufte and Death of Grass, can't remember who by.
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Feb 24, 2011 10:16
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Borges - where do I start?
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Aug 24, 2011 22:43
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