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2nd one added, no vaporwave tho let's see if "for the tankies" gets votes!
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Apr 16, 2017 01:31
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I didn't really suggest it or anything, but I'm also reading this. Its cute https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/157993.The_Little_Prince - The Little Prince
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Apr 16, 2017 01:34
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P much baw posted:hasn't everyone already read Candide I hadn't until now and that's with a four-year ~liberal arts~ degree. Also my high school was big enough and in a good enough school district that different English teachers could and would assign different books. For example quite a few of my friends had to read Of Mice and Men but I didn't end up in a class that read it. E: Got Candide from raiding a friend's library when she moved, also picked up 1984 and Brave New World in that go, and have a digital copy of It Can't Happen Here so I'm set on the fascism classics.
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Apr 16, 2017 01:39
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i guess i lucked out finding a copy for 50 cents at a garage sale when i was younger. then a couple years later i had to read it again for a college class
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Apr 16, 2017 01:50
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i once ate a book on a bet
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Apr 16, 2017 01:56
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Tenth of December by George Saunders. Why this book? Because it's short stories so even if you don't read the whole book, you can still talk about it. Also, the stories are really loving good. Best ones: Semplica Girl Diaries, Escape from Spiderhead, Puppy, The Tenth of December. But they're all really really worth reading.
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Apr 16, 2017 02:22
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Epic High Five posted:I'm not college educated so no Yeah, I assign it for my European History survey. Some have read it before, most have not. Baloogan posted:maybe Everything was Forever, Until it was No More: The Last Soviet Generation for the tankies Ooh! The reminds me! The Ghost of the Executed Engineer by Loren Graham is another recommendation of mine. It uses the life (and death, obviously) of engineer Peter Palchinsky as a case study to examine the history of Soviet industrialization and technological progress/policy. Unsurprisingly, it finds more than a few things to criticize, but does so from a pragmatic and scientific perspective rather than an ideological one.
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Apr 16, 2017 02:59
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I somehow never had to take an American lit class in HS and my english class in college was a joke (it was on alternative forms of books or something so we read comics and weird online stuff I don't remember) so the bulk of my reading has been British stuff. Lookin' forward to this thread.
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Apr 16, 2017 03:36
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cda posted:Tenth of December by George Saunders. Why this book? Because it's short stories so even if you don't read the whole book, you can still talk about it. Also, the stories are really loving good. Best ones: Semplica Girl Diaries, Escape from Spiderhead, Puppy, The Tenth of December. But they're all really really worth reading. On this note, my serious suggestion will be Birthday of the World by Ursula K LeGuin She's always been one of the gods of my authorial pantheon because I feel like nobody strikes to the core of what speculative fiction is supposed to be. This is a collection of short stories, each of which stand on their own and are quite wonderful. The centerpiece, and if you read only one read this one, is The Matter of Seggri, which I predict that most people will find deeply troubling in how thoroughly and plausibly it shows how horrifically the tables can be turned without anybody realizing that that has even happened. For dudes who have lived a comfy life it will be doubly jarring.
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Apr 16, 2017 03:58
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cda posted:Tenth of December by George Saunders. Why this book? Because it's short stories so even if you don't read the whole book, you can still talk about it. Also, the stories are really loving good. Best ones: Semplica Girl Diaries, Escape from Spiderhead, Puppy, The Tenth of December. But they're all really really worth reading. Seconding this rec. Also his new (and first) novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, is real good, and there's a part where Abraham Lincoln gets inhabited by a naked ghost with a huge boner. It's a pretty cspam book imo. I just finished reading Human Acts by Han Kang, and it's pretty drat good. Also an interesting look at South Korea's Gwangju uprising, which is a topic I knew almost nothing about.
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Apr 16, 2017 04:15
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I'm currently reading The Anatomy of Fascism. It's pretty good. There's this Hitler guy who comes off as a real jerk in the book right now. I also have a couple of books about propaganda including Gustav Lebon's The Crowd in my reading queue. It's been awhile since I read nonfiction books. Before this current queue, the last I read was Columbine like 2 years ago. Anyway, Vonnegut is my favorite author of all time. God bless.
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Apr 16, 2017 04:18
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I would like to suggest Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.
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Apr 16, 2017 06:49
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Consummate Professional posted:I would like to suggest Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. I love this book and heartily recommend it but please make a pitch so I don't have to leave a spreadsheet cell empty
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Apr 16, 2017 06:50
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Epic High Five posted:I love this book and heartily recommend it but please make a pitch so I don't have to leave a spreadsheet cell empty I apologize! Cat's cradle is about the connectedness of humanity displayed by the odd ties we all have with each other,unknown and known. It's also about the end of the world.
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Apr 16, 2017 06:55
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I will argue until the death of myself or this earth that Bluebeard was Vonnegut's best work. But it doesn't matter because Vonnegut was a master of getting you to laugh at the darkest qualities of humanity.
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Apr 16, 2017 07:00
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Vonnegut is good, but if we're going to read him I would suggest God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater for starters it's mostly set in indiana so it's shamelessly pandering to the OP secondly it highlights how loving disgusting the super rich are and how they have literally nothing in common with regular people... and lumps lawyers in with them as also complete bastards and finally it points out how even when one of the super rich wants to help the poor they're accused of being mentally ill by their fellow super rich e: a musical number loosely based on the book https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ainyK6fXku0 Gringostar has issued a correction as of 07:11 on Apr 16, 2017 |
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Apr 16, 2017 07:08
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Devil in the white city owned, good one from eonwe. My rec is Big Dead Place, a candid series of funny stories and journals on working in Antarctica from a janitor. Also available on audible for those of us that listen to our books. It's one part drunken sex in a shack, one part fruitless raging against government backed corporate structures, one part threatening your lovely boss, one part figuring out how to store frozen piss, and three parts laughing at the futility of it all. The book is insanely C-SPAM. Coolguye has issued a correction as of 07:15 on Apr 16, 2017 |
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Apr 16, 2017 07:12
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Gringostar posted:Vonnegut is good, but if we're going to read him I would suggest God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater Expert tier pandering I must say. If the club weren't so decidedly communist it would be a major factor. I love that I know about the landmarks and geography and streets that Vonnegut references in his books while 99% of the rest of the country has no clue. A nice Vonnegutesque inversion of how things normally go with lavishly elaborate directions and poo poo in NYC Coolguye posted:Devil in the white city owned, good one from eonwe. If this doesn't get selected I'll probably read it on its own haha
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Apr 16, 2017 07:41
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Good poo poo so far, will probably close down recommendations tomorrow night and begin Sinister Phase 2, so spread the word in various other threads because I don't leave my own threads or the Trump thread and also I'm drunk on Madeira woooooo
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Apr 16, 2017 07:53
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I'm currently finishing up Ghost Wars - https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-H...ords=ghost+wars it's a real good and really readable history of Afghanistan and CIA/ISIS/Saudi Fuckery from 1979 - 9/10/2001. It kind of loses some momentum after the Russian invasion ends but w/e I read candide in high school but I think i'll start reading it again if other people are, cause I remember it being real good. I also wanna recommend Blood Meridian, maybe more LF than CSPAM but good as hell.
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Apr 16, 2017 08:59
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TwoStepBoog posted:I will argue until the death of myself or this earth that Bluebeard was Vonnegut's best work. Breakfast of Champions is his best work fight me. cargo cult posted:I'm currently finishing up Ghost Wars - https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-H...ords=ghost+wars Seconded. I used to have a copy until I foolishly lent it to a co-worker who suddenly quit and never returned it, the bastard.
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Apr 16, 2017 13:54
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Consummate Professional posted:I would like to suggest Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. I've read this book like a dozen times but I would read it again in a heartbeat. All of the other people in this thread are crazy -- Cat's Cradle is definitely Vonnegut's best book.
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Apr 16, 2017 16:40
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Epic High Five posted:On this note, my serious suggestion will be Birthday of the World by Ursula K LeGuin Coolguye posted:Devil in the white city owned, good one from eonwe. These both sound great. I don't know offhand if I would read them for a book club, but I will buy them and they will sit on my shelf waiting to be read.
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Apr 16, 2017 16:42
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I will make a suggestion that I don't expect to be popular but I'm making it for selfish reasons anyway, so whatevs: Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. I feel like I can't really explain the plot without spoiling it, but it's basically turn-of-the-century Russian melodrama, I guess? It's real good if you're into that sort of thing. (And in this political climate why wouldn't you be???) Aside from the fact that there just something stylistic about a lot of Russian literature that I just really enjoy, I read Anna Karenina when I was about 16 and I HATED the titular character for being dumb and weak and whiny. However; I liked the book as a whole, and now that I'm an old, and my views on things have become more nuanced (and 1000% more feminist) I think it would be interesting to revisit the book and see if my interpretation of things changes. Of course, it would be even more fun to do that with a posse of nerds on the internet, so I'm throwing it out there for your consideration.
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Apr 16, 2017 16:55
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i never read anna karenina because the back of the book literally spoiled the ending which is why i never read the back of books anymore. or forwards gently caress the idiots who decide to put spoilers in the book descriptions even if it's an older book, gently caress them right to hell
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Apr 16, 2017 17:02
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I read Slaughterhouse Five for the first time a couple months ago and felt wholly unaffected by it, someone tell me how I'm supposed to feel after reading that book.
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Apr 16, 2017 17:43
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melancholy
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Apr 16, 2017 18:54
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vonnegut is really good but also overrated
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Apr 16, 2017 19:21
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Jesus Christ with the college101.txt book recs in this thread. Have some loving fun and read a good Western. Maybe the best one of them all! WARLOCK by Oakley Hall  Warlock, California is the stand-in for Tombstone, Arizona in this retelling of The Shootout at the OK Corral. The people of Warlock want and need a hero to save them, but since this is an "anti-western," the hero they worship turns out to be just a regular dude with regular dude problems. The real heroes are the people who loving hate their lovely jobs, but get up each day to do them (and do them well) despite it all. This book kicks rear end in the typical hardboiled western way, but also turns the genre on it's head, so it really makes u think! It's also influenced a lot of famous writers if that counts for anything. I guarantee you will like this book.
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Apr 16, 2017 20:24
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Good stuff, good stuff. I'll probably start compiling stuff tonight over the last of my ethanol and get some structure going, including the rules for thread chat in between book announcement and book discussion meetupbaw posted:i never read anna karenina because the back of the book literally spoiled the ending which is why i never read the back of books anymore. or forwards Yeah I had this happen to be with We and I resolved to never read forwards or introductions, especially of older books where eggheads think it's okay to spoil poo poo because THEY'VE known about the plot for decades. Annoying as gently caress.
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Apr 16, 2017 20:45
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cda posted:Tenth of December by George Saunders. Why this book? Because it's short stories so even if you don't read the whole book, you can still talk about it. Also, the stories are really loving good. Best ones: Semplica Girl Diaries, Escape from Spiderhead, Puppy, The Tenth of December. But they're all really really worth reading. Have you read In Persuasion Nation? Similarly fantastically good short stories, most of which satirize advertising and consumerism. Not a book club suggestion though, you probably have enough of those by now.
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Apr 16, 2017 20:58
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If it doesn't have to be fiction how about Treasure Islands?quote:WITH NEW AND UPDATED MATERIAL COVERING THE PANAMA PAPERS' REVELATIONS AND BRITAIN'S EU REFERENDUM VOTE quote:A thrilling ride inside the world of tax havens and corporate masterminds 'Everyone knows' that oligarchs and big corporations pay no tax because they hide all their money in loopholes, this book explains how that works and what it means and will fill you with a powerful urge to Eat The Rich.
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Apr 16, 2017 22:24
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Best Vonnegut is either Sirens of Titan or Mother Night imo. But Cat's Cradle is a very solid #3. I still haven't read Bluebeard so I would potentially vote for that Also God Bless You Mr. Rosewater is some great red propaganda. Made me respect Vonnegut even more
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Apr 16, 2017 23:12
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Everyone should read Market Forces by Richard K Morgan. It's basically Car Wars and dueling corporations using nations as their weapons. The UN is a toothless watchdog organization that nobody bothers to work for because they don't pay crap. Some dudes get beaten to death with baseball bats in sanitized corporate boardrooms and that's a shock because you're supposed to settle your arguments ON THE ROAD. It's quick and funny. Gladiator at Law is about a Libertarian paradise where all court cases are broadcast world wide and at least one of them involves dudes ice-skating with battle axes at one another. They're both NC af, friends.
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Apr 17, 2017 00:07
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The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell. It's about someone who tries to convince the people around him that working themselves to death to better their masters is possibly not the best idea and the struggle against people who'd rather just keep their heads down and not cause a fuss. Also obligatory doorstopper recommendation: The Illuminatus Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. Set in the early 70s (and very much a product of that time), it's the Ur-conspiracy series and features the Illuminati (duh!) attempting to Immanentise the Eschaton. And John Dillinger dying for your sins. And the Law of Fives. Amongst other things. (fnord)
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Apr 17, 2017 00:37
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Relevant Tangent posted:Gladiator at Law is about a Libertarian paradise where all court cases are broadcast world wide and at least one of them involves dudes ice-skating with battle axes at one another. Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov is about a doctor who replaces the testes and pituitary gland of a stray dog with those of a petty criminal. The dog transforms into a person and a gigantic pain in the rear end. Russian class satire by way of Frankenstein. His Master's Voice by Stanislaw Lem. The memoir of a mathematician that describes his time on the project 'His Master's Voice'; the attempt to decode what appears to be an alien message. Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett. This is purestrain noir. The nameless protagonist is called to Personville and everything goes to hell before he even gets there.
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Apr 17, 2017 01:22
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Fanky Malloons posted:I will make a suggestion that I don't expect to be popular but I'm making it for selfish reasons anyway, so whatevs: Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. I just finished reading Anna Karenina yesterday and I loved it and I didn't think Anna was dumb, weak, or whiny.
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Apr 17, 2017 01:29
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cda posted:I just finished reading Anna Karenina yesterday and I loved it and I didn't think Anna was dumb, weak, or whiny. Excellent! I am sure that my opinion of her would be vastly different now, so I may just go ahead and re-read it anyway sometime in the near future.
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Apr 17, 2017 01:58
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Fanky Malloons posted:Excellent! I am sure that my opinion of her would be vastly different now, so I may just go ahead and re-read it anyway sometime in the near future. When I was in HS I thought lots of famous protagonists were whiny and annoying: Hamlet, Hester Prynne, everyone in The Great Gatsby etc. It's easy to look at the situations they put themselves in and think "this would be easy to get out of if you had any common sense." Then you become an adult and find yourself loving up in exactly that way and realize your limitations as a human being and that gives you more empathy for the characters. These books weren't written for teenagers.
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Apr 17, 2017 16:22
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i still find jane eyre a self-centered jerk as an adult e: also that all of the bronte sisters are extremely grating to read Coolguye has issued a correction as of 16:50 on Apr 17, 2017 |
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Apr 17, 2017 16:46
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