Book Thread

[realsubtle]

Man after Man: An Anthropology of the Future by Dougal Dixon
An insane speculative-scifi fever dream about humanity, evolution, and the dark heart of nature. Don't just look at the brilliant and crazy illustrations, the narratives are easily twice as fascinating.

Baudolino, by Umberto Eco.
A little Italian boy in the Holy Roman Empire days proves to be good at words and better at bullshitting so he gets hired by Frederick Barbarossa. He spends a dissolute youth vainly using what power and connections he has by merit of his prodigy pursuing stories of dubious holy relics and fantasies of Prester John, the mythical Christian king of the far East. The whole story is told mainly by Baudolino himself, to this Greek dude he meets as the Crusades are sieging the Byzantine Empire at Constantinople. Really fascinating story of a dyed-in-the-wool super-grifter.

Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco
What if Sherlock Holmes was a British monk who came to an Italian monastery with his little Italian buddy to attend a theological disputation between the Pope and the Franciscans, and ends up having to use medieval scholastic reasoning to try and solve a murder mystery that goes to the very heart of ideas of heresy and faith in the medieval era? Well, if you read this book you will find out, and have a lot of fun doing it!

[robayon]

I bought a copy of Foucault's Pendulum on Thriftbooks and when I opened it a flattened dead tick fell out. It was very yellow and aged.

[loramin]

Originally Posted by robayon [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I bought a copy of Foucault's Pendulum on Thriftbooks and when I opened it a flattened dead tick fell out. It was very yellow and aged.

Damn, another author that I thought only Literature (or Philosophy) majors were crazy enough to read [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[robayon]

Originally Posted by loramin [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Damn, another author that I thought only Literature (or Philosophy) majors were crazy enough to read [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I have an associate's degree [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Kaveh]

Originally Posted by realsubtle [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Man after Man: An Anthropology of the Future by Dougal Dixon
An insane speculative-scifi fever dream about humanity, evolution, and the dark heart of nature. Don't just look at the brilliant and crazy illustrations, the narratives are easily twice as fascinating.

Baudolino, by Umberto Eco.
A little Italian boy in the Holy Roman Empire days proves to be good at words and better at bullshitting so he gets hired by Frederick Barbarossa. He spends a dissolute youth vainly using what power and connections he has by merit of his prodigy pursuing stories of dubious holy relics and fantasies of Prester John, the mythical Christian king of the far East. The whole story is told mainly by Baudolino himself, to this Greek dude he meets as the Crusades are sieging the Byzantine Empire at Constantinople. Really fascinating story of a dyed-in-the-wool super-grifter.

Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco
What if Sherlock Holmes was a British monk who came to an Italian monastery with his little Italian buddy to attend a theological disputation between the Pope and the Franciscans, and ends up having to use medieval scholastic reasoning to try and solve a murder mystery that goes to the very heart of ideas of heresy and faith in the medieval era? Well, if you read this book you will find out, and have a lot of fun doing it!

Interesting recommendations. Gonna keep these on my list once I finish up my Roman history binge

[GinnasP99]

I really liked this book when I was a kid.

https://www.amazon.com/Talion-Revena.../dp/0553576569

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[Kaveh]

Finishing up Gaius Marius by Marc Hyden. Not the best writing, but still good. Very informative regarding the “first” successful autocrat that ended with the republic becoming an empire. It’s also interesting reading about his ability as a general. He changed how the Roman army operated in terms of it being a force that carried its own gear and made fortified encampments, etc

Interesting for people into political and military history

[Rethalis]

Finished up this "A Dream Deferred" by Shelby Steele

Shelby Steele is a black conservative who grew up during the civil rights movement.

dreamdeffered1.jpg

Its a long form Essay so not exactly thrilling. Steele offers an interesting insight to why the USA cannot get rid of its racial problem and in fact makes the case that it is self-perpetuating.

UNSUNGHERO with your psychology stuff you might find this one interesting.

I chose these two excerpts from the book:

"Still, the reasoned intervention is an extremely compelling idea because of a factor that has nothing to do with rationality. When redemptive liberals make interventions the agents of change over people, they avail themselves to one of the most popular formulas for power in the twentieth century.

This formula always begins in the same way: A society runs into a problem that shames it. At the turn of the century, it was the inequities and backwardness of a society stuck in czarist-imposed feudalism against the backdrop of a rapidly modernizing western Europe, that brought shame to Russia. In Germany it was the grating defeat in World War One, the specter of a great power humiliated. In the United States it was the shame of three centuries of virulent racial oppression that contradicted every principle of the society supposedly stood for. These societies then conjured ideas-of-the-good that they hoped would redeem them from the shame. Against the inequities of feudalism Russia would have a "classless society." Against its postwar lowliness Germany would have Aryan supremacy. And against the shame of American racism there would be a new "multicultural," "inclusive" "diversity."

"In our age of the New Sovereignty the original grievances those having to do with fundamental questions such as basic rights, have in large measure been addressed, if not entirely redressed. But this is of little matter now. The sovereign fiefdoms are ends in themselves, providing career tracks and bases of power. This power tends to be used now mostly to defend and extend the fiefdom, often by exaggerating and exploiting secondary, amorphous, or largely symbolic complaints. In this way, the United States has increasingly become an uneasy federation of newly sovereign nations."


I would recommend it if you are interested in hearing a different perspective on racial issue in the USA other than the usual critical theory or "systemic structural theory" (the irony here is palpable if you read the book)

[unsunghero]

Originally Posted by Rethalis [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

UNSUNGHERO with your psychology stuff you might find this one interesting.

I chose these two excerpts from the book:

"Still, the reasoned intervention is an extremely compelling idea because of a factor that has nothing to do with rationality. When redemptive liberals make interventions the agents of change over people, they avail themselves to one of the most popular formulas for power in the twentieth century.

This formula always begins in the same way: A society runs into a problem that shames it. At the turn of the century, it was the inequities and backwardness of a society stuck in czarist-imposed feudalism against the backdrop of a rapidly modernizing western Europe, that brought shame to Russia. In Germany it was the grating defeat in World War One, the specter of a great power humiliated. In the United States it was the shame of three centuries of virulent racial oppression that contradicted every principle of the society supposedly stood for. These societies then conjured ideas-of-the-good that they hoped would redeem them from the shame. Against the inequities of feudalism Russia would have a "classless society." Against its postwar lowliness Germany would have Aryan supremacy. And against the shame of American racism there would be a new "multicultural," "inclusive" "diversity."

"In our age of the New Sovereignty the original grievances those having to do with fundamental questions such as basic rights, have in large measure been addressed, if not entirely redressed. But this is of little matter now. The sovereign fiefdoms are ends in themselves, providing career tracks and bases of power. This power tends to be used now mostly to defend and extend the fiefdom, often by exaggerating and exploiting secondary, amorphous, or largely symbolic complaints. In this way, the United States has increasingly become an uneasy federation of newly sovereign nations."


I would recommend it if you are interested in hearing a different perspective on racial issue in the USA other than the usual critical theory or "systemic structural theory" (the irony here is palpable if you read the book)

Yeah that's interesting, shame is a powerful thing. Not to get too political but IMO the left decries when they are shamed in various forms, usually for things within their control, but definitely leans into the shame tactic politically. Ends justify the means kinda thing

What I like to do, but don't always do, in my job based on the presenting initial information is ask the person "do you have any particular expectations with our interaction?". The most common answer is no or I don't know. But sometimes you can tease out some really unrealistic stuff and nip that in the bud. And even if they don't know, the question is also a mini-suggestion to think of some

What is the expectation of any political ideology? What are parameters we can use for things being "fixed" or "better", and are those realistic? I feel just like individuals the most common responses are either I don't know or sometimes something completely unrealistic

[Rethalis]

Next up is "The Red Badge of Courage" by Stephen Crane. First published in 1895

redbadge.jpg

Taking place during the American Civil War, the story is about a young private of the Union Army, Henry Fleming, who flees from the field of battle. Overcome with shame, he longs for a wound, a "red badge of courage," to counteract his cowardice. When his regiment once again faces the enemy, Henry acts as standard-bearer, who carries an American Flag. wiki page