Now Reading

[Fonzy]

I'm hitting up some favorites in my collection for a re-read.

Finished Lamb, by Christopher Moore earlier tonight.

Now I'm starting World War Z by Max Brooks.

[LegendShark]

WORLD WAR Z BLOWS.

It was great when he was writing a survival guide, but now it's an oral history. The irony is, it's got the worst dialoge I've ever read. It's an ORAL FUCKING HISTORY.

I literally threw it out of a window into the rainforest.

And every time I tell people that the dialogue isn't realistic, they always fail to grasp that I'm talking about the way people talk, not what they say. They always go "Lol, of course it isn't realistic, its about zombies" and then I punch them in the face.

I'm now reading Slaughterhouse-Five.

[Fonzy]

I guess I missed that somehow the first time through. Really, though, I wouldn't exactly expect it to by a syntatical tour de force. Fluff books like that to me just tell stories and as long as the story is somewhat interesting, I guess I skip the mechanics.

[LegendShark]

Yeah, normally when I'm watching movies a good story or an interesting plot or general stupidity can normally cary a movie despite awful acting/directing/scripts, but that's really much more passive than reading a book. You have to actively read a book, so if I'm getting agravated at the way a book reads I normally just toss it.

[Fonzy]

True. I do heart my fluff books though. I haven't been able to read anything serious since I graduated. I think I'll break my streak if ever there's a good book written about Gobekli Tepe, but so far the only title I've seen devoted to it is in German (all in all not surprisingly, since the chief excavator is German)

[Purple_Shrimp]

The Three Musketeers/House of Leaves/Seeress of Kell

[Quesadilla]

Planning to finish reading On The Road.

[Kant]

Trainspotting.

Started June, got the hang of the style in August, haven't finished due to classes.

also, France in Modern times, a pretty good political history of France (considering how fucking fragmented they were until the 1960's)

[Avedomni]

According to our coffee table:
Galactic Dynamics
The Social Contract
Counterknowledge
Principles for a Free Society
The Libertarian Manifesto
Differential Forms with Applications to the Physical Sciences

[Edit] Checked our night-stand:
Tensor analysis on manifolds
Introduction to Tensor Calculus, Relativity and Cosmology
Classical Mechanics
The Eye of the World

[Shadow]

Appointment in Samarra

[Crouch]

Magician by Raymond E. Feist.

[GelbSol]

Im re-reading Rainbow Six on lunches at work, Choke at home for leisure, and I have Her Majesties Dragon in my Bathroom.

[LegendShark]

I'm also smack in the middle of the complete Bone compilation. Now there is fluff if I ever read it.

[Fonzy]

I'm also smack in the middle of the complete Bone compilation. Now there is fluff if I ever read it.

Haha, Bone was AWESOME.

[Caldera42]

Books I am reading/plan on reading in no particular order:

The Revolution - Ron Paul
Failed States - Noam Chosmky
Dune - some guy
The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli
The Wealth of Nations - Adam Smith

[Fluke Hawkins]

AP Statistics, 3rd ed - Levine-wissing, Thiel
AP Chemistry - mah textbook publishers

Just finished Idoru and Burning Chrome after the SATs. I wish I was half as talented as Gibson :(. Probably re-reading some Stepehenson here shortly, maybe Snow Crash for the bajillionth time.

[Captain Piano]

Song of Solomon & The Stranger

[mrs_bun]

In before Noam Chomsky gets a fanboy bj.

[Kant]

Books I am reading/plan on reading in no particular order:

The Revolution - Ron Paul
Failed States - Noam Chosmky

Not a fan of biased political literature. It's cool to read 2 books from opposite sides of the aisle, but why not just read one which is far less biased?

Dune - some guy

:nono:

The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli
The Wealth of Nations - Adam Smith

Some good books here--though there was an interesting take on the Prince I read recently, which was that he wrote it as a satire, and as a joke. Take that into account before you start living your life based on it. (that way you don't have to make my mistakes!)

[mrs_bun]

:rolleyes: at both of those comments big time.

[LegendShark]

Haha, Bone was AWESOME.

I agree. :V

[Kant]

:rolleyes: at both of those comments big time.

You're right, biased political lit is a far better way to get information.

[mrs_bun]

Most things can't be totally objective, Kant.

[Skydin]

The Talisman- Stephen King
Crown of Swords- Robert Jordan

reading two books at the same time is fun. ^_^

[Tony3]

all i did for a while was read jordans WoT. like lotr in a way. he died tho :(

like his son or someone is going to finish the series with all the notes jordan had prepared, but won't be the same.

[Kant]

Most things can't be totally objective, Kant.

Therefore, you should read the least objective thing you can find and build your opinion around it!

[Skydin]

I know. The planned prequels and old tongue dictionary most likely wont happen either.

the final book should be coming out this fall. However, the whore of a writer who took Jordans place after his death is considering separating the book into two books because of length, even though Jordan himself said he would not do so, even if the book exceeded 1500 pages when done.

[Tony3]

I know. The planned prequels and old tongue dictionary most likely wont happen either.

the final book should be coming out this fall. However, the whore of a writer who took Jordans place after his death is considering separating the book into two books because of length, even though Jordan himself said he would not do so, even if the book exceeded 1500 pages when done.

there were prequels/dictionary in the book?:O

how many books are left? i don't really remember cuz i read the last book like 4 years ago or something, but i remember feeling like there was a ton of material to be covered. like 5 more books worth.

[mrs_bun]

Therefore, you should read the least objective thing you can find and build your opinion around it!

:rolleyes:

You should read everything and make your own judgments. Sometimes what you want to know is not a fact, but someone's opinion; especially an autobiography, for instance.

[Kant]

:rolleyes:

You should read everything and make your own judgments. Sometimes what you want to know is not a fact, but someone's opinion; especially an autobiography, for instance.

Yes, but when I want to educate myself on something, I tend to want to read the most factual text possible.

Or did your school assign PHYSICS!: An Anne Coulter book(tm)?

[Skydin]

there were prequels/dictionary in the book?:O

how many books are left? i don't really remember cuz i read the last book like 4 years ago or something, but i remember feeling like there was a ton of material to be covered. like 5 more books worth.


No, Jordan was planning on writing more prequels after he finished the 12th book.

Also, this next is the last. Unless the replacement writer pulls a douche move.

[Tony3]

i ment, they were gonna write some? and i think there was. i think i actually got two (only two written?) but i didn't find much interest in them. they were relatively short.

i'm excited. i haven't read them in forever, but i remember them being great with interesting characters. do you know the title of the last one?

[mrs_bun]

Yes, but when I want to educate myself on something, I tend to want to read the most factual text possible.

Or did your school assign PHYSICS!: An Anne Coulter book(tm)?

If you read things critically, you can get just as much truth from biased stuff as anything else. And like I said, reading unbiased stuff is important, but reading biased stuff is good once you have an idea of what the truth is.

[Avedomni]

However, the whore of a writer who took Jordans place after his death is considering separating the book into two books because of length, even though Jordan himself said he would not do so, even if the book exceeded 1500 pages when done.That call is being made by the publisher, president, and founder of Tor books, a long-time friend of RJ, not by Brandon Sanderson, and there isn't a whole lot that even RJ could have done about it. The publishing company has certain limits on what they're capable of binding into a single volume, and if the book exceeds those it will necessarily have to be printed in two volumes.

Unless the replacement writer pulls a douche move.The replacement writer was chosen personally by Harriet, RJ's wife and editor. He communicates with both her and Tor regularly, and is a huge Wheel of Time fan (having gotten into the series with book 1). It is unlikely that he would even consider writing more books without explicitly being requested to do so by Harriet.

Jordan did intend to write two more prequels; they probably won't be written. It's possible that Harriet will enlist Sanderson to write them from notes, but that seems highly unlikely.

[Tony3]

if they publish in two books, are they going to space it out over time or simultaneous release?

[Avedomni]

if they publish in two books, are they going to space it out over time or simultaneous release?If the book does end up needing to get split, Brandon would prefer for the first half to be released in October 2009 and the second in November 2009, with a leatherbound special edition of the complete book.

Tom says, “I do not believe it’s physically possible to bind in one book.” [I’m interpreting this as a reaction to the possibility of the book being 600,000 words, and also not ruling out a special edition.]Source (http://peterahlstrom.blogspot.com/2008/08/rolling-up-wheel-of-time-panel.html).

As of right now, the book is at over 400,000 words, and Sanderson expects it to reach 750,000. For reference, the next largest book in the Wheel of Time, The Shadow Rising, was only 393,823 words.

[Skydin]

There are several of books, that I know of with my (while not necessarily limited) not extremely extensive knowledge of books, which have 1000 pages or more.

[Tony3]

shadow rising was 1031 pages right?

twice as much of that. thats a lot of content for one book. i don't really remember how the series ended at the end. ill have to reread the last few books.

[Kant]

Rereading Song of Ice and Fire.

FUCK.

CERSAI.

FUCK HER.

[Avedomni]

There are several of books, that I know of with my (while not necessarily limited) not extremely extensive knowledge of books, which have 1000 pages or more.At an average of 250 words per page (the publishing standard), a 750,000 word book would require three thousand pages.

[Skydin]

Alright, that may be pushing it.

Still. :stare:

[Tony3]

Alright, that may be pushing it.

Still. :stare:

lol.


3,000 would easily be the longest book i've ever read. thats essentially 3 of the regular books. i'm happy that i won't have to wait 3 years between books, and that there is a lot reading left about the story. i don't know if i'm easily empathetic, but its interesting to know about the characters and how they go through their life.

[Skydin]

That's why I'm currently rereading the series though, in anticipation.

The sad thing is, I'll probably have them all done before my midterms. >_< I should've waited longer.

[Caldera42]

Not a fan of biased political literature. It's cool to read 2 books from opposite sides of the aisle, but why not just read one which is far less biased?What unbiased alternatives are there to biased political theory?

The second one is because I want to read a Noam Chomsky book. I might change which one, though.

:nono:I couldn't remember Frank Herbert's name at the time.

Some good books here--though there was an interesting take on the Prince I read recently, which was that he wrote it as a satire, and as a joke. Take that into account before you start living your life based on it. (that way you don't have to make my mistakes!)The concept that the Prince is based off of, from what I learned in history class and summaries of it, seems absolutely incorrect.

Edit: Also, I would most certainly appreciate Physics: the Ayn Rand version, but I would not read it with the intention of learning physics.

[Fonzy]

So I finished reading World War Z again and I was looking online to find some other books I might want to read next and I made the mistake of looking at bestseller lists, hoping to find something. Seriously, fuck Twilight. Fuck it right in it's stupid ass.

[Kant]

So I finished reading World War Z again and I was looking online to find some other books I might want to read next and I made the mistake of looking at bestseller lists, hoping to find something. Seriously, fuck Twilight. Fuck it right in it's stupid ass.

Read Pratchett?

Fidel the biography?

I read Things: A story of the 60's, a really interesting short story by Perec, who's a linguist, about the first yuppies. It comes with a companion story, A Man Asleep, about a student who wants to be totally unmaterialistic and fails miserably.

[Fonzy]

Read Pratchett?

Fidel the biography?

I read Things: A story of the 60's, a really interesting short story by Perec, who's a linguist, about the first yuppies. It comes with a companion story, A Man Asleep, about a student who wants to be totally unmaterialistic and fails miserably.

I was actually just browsing the Discworld Wikipedia article. Sweet butt plugs, 36 novels? Where do you start?

[Kant]

As an introduction to Anhk Morpork, the city that's in the center of a lot of stuff, there's either the Night Guards series, or the easier to get Going Postal!

The plot is that the police capture an amazing conman, and the dictator, instead of killing him, puts him at the head of the horrifically incompetent Post Office.

Nice, short book, and it would give you a good idea of the way the dude writes.

[Cloneysocks]

The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H.P. Lovecraft

[Fonzy]

I was also thinking of getting into some Robert Jordan, but I've never really been much of a true fantasy reader, which is why I'm a little hesitant about he Discworld stuff too.

[Cloneysocks]

If the fantasy alone doesn't draw you in, the humor behind Discworld might make it easier to get into than a less silly fantasy would be. I'd recommend the Color of Magic for starting off.

[LegendShark]

No. Rincewind sucks. So do most of the early ones. And that story is more fantasy than most of the later ones. Start with Guards! Guards!

That shit is hilarious, dawg.

[Kant]

Yeah, the Night Watch series is, in my opinion, the best of the Discworld series's.

[Avedomni]

We prefer the Death books. Particularly Hogfather and Thief of Time (the latter of which was the first Discworld novel we read).

[LegendShark]

We prefer the Death books. Particularly Hogfather and Thief of Time (the latter of which was the first Discworld novel we read).

I dislike Susan as a character for some reason, but those are both very good books. Death is a great character. He and Sam Vimes are pretty much tied for first in my mind.

[Fonzy]

We prefer the Death books. Particularly Hogfather and Thief of Time (the latter of which was the first Discworld novel we read).

I was thinking personally of starting with the Death books, because from what I read the character seemed up my alley.

[Avedomni]

I was thinking personally of starting with the Death books, because from what I read the character seemed up my alley.

As a note, we do suggest reading whichever sequence you start with in it's printed order (which is a good reason not to start with Wizards). One of the startling things about Discworld is that while every book is essentially a self-contained novel, the world does undergo changes with each one, and the events of previous books influence events in later books. Also, there are some running jokes that you would probably miss if you do them out of order.

[Fonzy]

As a note, we do suggest reading whichever sequence you start with in it's printed order (which is a good reason not to start with Wizards). One of the startling things about Discworld is that while every book is essentially a self-contained novel, the world does undergo changes with each one, and the events of previous books influence events in later books. Also, there are some running jokes that you would probably miss if you do them out of order.

You think Hogfather and Thief of Time would be a good place to start?

[LegendShark]

You think Hogfather and Thief of Time would be a good place to start?

Technically, the series starts with Mort and then goes to Reaper Man and then Hogfather and then Theif of Time.

I would suggest at least reading Mort first because it really explain's the character of Death, though I personally don't find it nearly as good as Hogfather or Theif of Time. I haven't read Reaper Man myself, so you'd have to ask Ave or someone else knowledgable about it.

[Avedomni]

You think Hogfather and Thief of Time would be a good place to start?
Honestly, no. They're great books (as we said above), and it wouldn't hurt the series, but we'd suggest Mort or Reaper Man first.

Mort is the first book in the Death sequence, and it does a good job introducing the character (though, it being an earlier book, there are certain story elements that are essentially forgotten over the course of the series). As an alternative, we would probably go with Reaper Man. It also delves into what it means to be Death, as well as having the single most awesome page we've ever encountered in any book.

[Juliette]

Anathem.

[Cara]

I hate Ayn Rand.

But yeah The Atrocity Exhibition

[Tony3]

espn

[Juliette]

I hate Ayn Rand.

But yeah The Atrocity Exhibition

I did not make a typo.

[Fonzy]

High Fidelity for about the thousandth time.

[Captain Piano]

Anathem.

Just read the Wikipedia article for this. Wow.

[Tidal Kraken]

Jeeves- P.G. Wodehouse

[Tidal Kraken]

I've heard of his stuff as being really good. How is it?

Its pretty good. I'm really really bad at critiquing writing though, so don't expect anything more lucid than that out of me.

[Tidal Kraken]

If you've read a book in which a woman's complexion is compared to "owlshit", you've most likely read The Farm by Clarence Cooper, Jr., who is dead and black.

[Cara]

We3.

[GelbSol]

Denis Leary - Why we suck

[Kant]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Things:_A_Story_of_the_Sixties + a companion story which is about a student who tries to be completely unmaterialistic.

[Captain Piano]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Things:_A_Story_of_the_Sixties + a companion story which is about a student who tries to be completely unmaterialistic.

Conditional tense...whoa.

[Fonzy]

Reading The Alphabet of Manliness and whatever random junk I have lying around until my Pratchett books get here.

[Avedomni]

The Yorkist Age
The Hundred Years War
Various "Course Manual"s

[Fonzy]

Allen Carr The Easy Way to Quit Smoking

We'll see.

[mrs_bun]

Get an electric cigarette! They're so kewl. :)

[mrs_bun]

It's rilly good.

[Fonzy]

This is one of my favorite books, too!

Lucifer, by Mike Carey. I've never read Sandman so I have no idea what's going on right now.

Solution: Read Sandman.

[RC]

Still deciding between The Brothers Karamazov, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and Requiem for a Dream.

[mrs_bun]

Thus Spoke Zarathustra omg.

[Cloneysocks]

Chicken Qabalah.

[Naga]

http://chomsky.info/talks/20060118.pdf

[Fonzy]

Colours of Magic.

Still smoking btw.

[Caldera42]

http://chomsky.info/talks/20060118.pdfOn that note:

http://www.chomsky.info/talks/19960413.htm

[LegendShark]

Just finished Batman: Year One and it was goodd.

[Kant]

Went to the barnes and noble because there aren't any readings left for the semester, and after this paper all of my finals are in class.

Bought Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, newest copy of Foreign Affairs, and 2666

[Fonzy]

On to Mort.

[LegendShark]

Thud!

[Cara]

Milinuem People, because I luv my ballard and i cants spell

[Fonzy]

Just bought Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for my trip to St. Louis.

[LegendShark]

I Robot fap fap fap fap fap fap fap fap.

[Fonzy]

Columbine.

[LegendShark]

Good Omens - Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

It's kinda disappointing.

[Caldera42]

Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut

[Fonzy]

For Whom the Bell Tolls.

[Regret]

For Whom the Bell Tolls.
spoiler alert
It tolls for you.

[Fonzy]

spoiler alert
It tolls for you.

Jon Donne called...

[Fonzy]

Because I apparently can't edit:

]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Donne-shroud.png

[Fonzy]

Aww fuck this forum.

[LegendShark]

Good Omens - Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

It's kinda disappointing.

Finished. Got better as it went on.

And I realized why it was disappointing, it was very early Pratchett and Gaiman.

[mrs_bun]

the moon is a harsh mistress :teach:

[Quesadilla]

Something Happened - Joseph Heller

[LegendShark]

the moon is a harsh mistress :teach:

Is this a book or a statement?

[mrs_bun]

Book.

[Fonzy]

For Whom the Bell Tolls.

This was the best book I've read in a long time.

[Avedomni]

A History of the English Language
The Oxford History of English
Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs
How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs
Linguistics: A Very Short Introduction
In the Beginning: An Introduction to Archaeology
Every War Has Two Losers

[Regret]

My Booky Wook.

[Fonzy]

The Sun Also Rises.

[Cara]

Picked up Waiting for Godot since I've technically never read it

Spoiler:

They wait.

[Fonzy]

Spoiler:

They wait.

For Godot?

[Caldera42]

Critique on Pure Reason - Immanuel Kant
A People's History of the United States - Howard Zinn
Manufacturing Consent - Noam Chomsky+some other guy
Homage to Catalonia - George Orwell

[Fonzy]

The Grapes of Wrath.

[artvandelay]

Battle Royale.

[Tidal Kraken]

anarcho-syndicalism by rudolf rocker

[Fonzy]

Farewell to Arms.

[Mixed Berry Hotcakes.]

Midwich Cuckoos.

The movie was much better.

[Captain Piano]

Looking for shit to read. My library is extremely ghetto, and it pretty much only used so black people can get on the internet, hence they're a little lacking in the books department.

[Shadow]

Looking for shit to read. My library is extremely ghetto, and it pretty much only used so black people can get on the internet, hence they're a little lacking in the books department.

I suppose you could read romance novels.

[Mixed Berry Hotcakes.]

Friday. Not the date.

Plot synopsis is as followed.

Girl does something, then she has sex. Does something else, then she has sex. Then look, there is something in the news, then she has sex. Better talk about the news then, o stew it just have sex.

Now don't get me wrong, I like my pg porn just as much as the next guy, but as it is, it just gets ruddy tedious.

[Cloneysocks]

Foucault's Pendulum

[Fonzy]

Collection of Hemmimgway short stories.

[Avedomni]

Calculus on Manifolds
Differential Geometry: Manifolds, Curves, and Surfaces
Topology
Topological Vector Spaces
The Large Scale Structure of Spacetime
Tensor Analysis on Manifolds
Modern Quantum Mechanics
Quantum Field Theory
Gravity, Gauge Theories, and Quantum Cosmology
Gravitation
A Comprehensive Introduction to Differential Geometry
An Introduction to Analysis
General Relativity
A Basic Course in Algebraic Topology
A Crown of Swords
Not Always So
Opening the Mind's Eye
Differential Forms with Applications to the Physical Sciences
Lecture Notes on General Relativity

[Captain Piano]

Une Etranger (English translation)

[Tidal Kraken]

The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce
and
The Possessed by Fyodor Dostoevsky

[Cloneysocks]

The Art of Shen Ku

A People's History of the United States

The Apophenion

[LegendShark]

The new copy of Wired.

[Fonzy]

Watchmen again.

[Caldera42]

A People's History of the United StatesThis

The Mismeasure of Man - Stephen Jay Gould

[Avedomni]

Grammar, Punctuation, and Capitalization: A Handbook for Technical Writers and Editors (http://www.sti.nasa.gov/publish/sp7084.pdf)

[mrs_bun]

Belinda

[LegendShark]

Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?

[Caldera42]

The Conquest of Bread - Peter Kropotkin

[Cloneysocks]

The Idiot, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, translated by Henry and Olga Carlisle.
Concurrently reading A Brief History of Everything by Ken Wilber and Morphic Resonance by Rupert Sheldrake.

[Cloneysocks]

Naked Lunch

The Call of Cthulhu (over and over) for a screenplay I'm writing.

I have that in audiobook if you want to listen to it on repeat while you sleep. (not Naked Lunch)

[Cloneysocks]

I was thinking it would help you fall asleep.

[Cloneysocks]

I only hope someone will say that of me in 80 years...

[Cloneysocks]

Not then, but it does now.

[good news]

finished Written on the Body tonight again. good book good book.

secretly I am trying to read A Thousand Plateaus but I admit that it's not going so hot.

[Captain Piano]

Showgirls, Teen Wolves, and Astro Zombies: A Film Critic's Year-Long Quest to Find the Worst Movie Ever Made. (http://www.amazon.com/Showgirls-Teen-Wolves-Astro-Zombies/dp/0061806293)

Some aussie critic watched at least two z-grade movies a day for a year to try to find the worst one. It's a decently entertaining read, though I'm already forming the smarmy, unforgiving review in my head. Don't really feel like dredging my memory banks for the sentences I've come up with tho. Something about scenes of domestic bliss serving as tenuous narrative link and about how I really don't give a fuck about his wife Clare and infant daughter Ava. I also predict their marriage will end in divorce, or at least be very, very unhappy. The problem with this book is that instead of the author attempting to say something interesting/constructive/any insight gained while viewing movies...his reviews usually amount to "OMG GUYS THIS MOVIE IS SOOO BAD. LIEK, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW BAD IT IS. IT'S TERRIBLE! AWFUL!" His instructive comparisons ("this movie is as bad as eating a shit sandwich" *not an actual quote*) walk a fine line between idiotic and mildly clever, and typically lean more to the former side.

...Looks like I've got the bulk of my review written.

[Penner]

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Shit's tight, but a hard book to just plow through. I find that you have to stop every 15 minutes and digest what you've just read. So far it's better than expected! Although it has been portrayed as a modern classic.

[Quesadilla]

Picked up This Side of Paradise again. I had started reading it a few months ago and stopped for whatever reason, but I got bored over the break and decided to finish it.

[Naga]

I just finished A Short History Of Nearly Everything. I'm reading Guns, Germs and Steel now. I've been on a historical bend.

[good news]

I started reading this book for one of my cuba classes, Dirty Havana Trilogy, and it's really good but incongruous with the idea I had of the professor that assigned it. She seems like a very proper woman, and the book reads like this
When I got there, she was washing clothes and sweating. She was glad to see me and she went to take a shower. We had been lovers on the sly ---sorry, I have to call it something---for almost twenty years, and when we get to together, first we fuck and then we have a nice relaxed conversation. So I wouldn't let her shower. I stripped her and ran my tongue all over her. She did the same: she stripped me and ran her tongue all over me. I was covered in sweat, too, from all the biking and the sun. She was getting healthier, putting weight back on. She wasn't all skin and bones the way she used to be. Her buttocks were firm, round, and solid again, even though she was forty-six. Black women are like that. All fiber and muscle, hardly any fat, clean skin, no zits. I couldn't resist the temptation, and after playing with ehr for a little while, after she had already come three times, I eased myself into her ass, very slowly, greasing myself well with cunt juice. Little by little. Pushing in and pulling out and fondling her clit with my hand. She was in agony, but she couldn't get enough. She was biting the pillow, but she pushed her ass up, begging me to get all the way in. She's fantastic, that woman. No one gets off the way she does. We were linked like that for a long time. When I pulled out, I was all smeared in shit, and it disgusted her. Not me.

[Fonzy]

I started reading this book for one of my cuba classes, Dirty Havana Trilogy, and it's really good but incongruous with the idea I had of the professor that assigned it. She seems like a very proper woman, and the book reads like this

She's probably horribly repressed, like most of us.

[Shadow]

The autobiography of John Stuart Mills. Holy fuck is this boring.

[LegendShark]

Men at Arms - Terry Pratchett.

[good news]

I just finished A Short History Of Nearly Everything. I'm reading Guns, Germs and Steel now. I've been on a historical bend.

ahh my history prof knocked Guns, Germs and Steel so badly. talk about a teleological approach to history!

[Tidal Kraken]

baudolino by umberto eco

i suck shit at reviewing things outside of saying they own so i'll just say eco owns

[notallama]

pale fire

don't know if i'll finish it. it's good, but i get distracted from reading easily.

[Tidal Kraken]

I have Foucault's Pendulum.

Have you read it? I haven't had a change to yet.

[Tee See Em]

Have you read it? I haven't had a change to yet.
This.

I think I read the first chapter or something, but I can't remember.

[Cara]

It's pretty good.

There's a story where Umberto Eco read The Illuminatus! Trilogy, said "This would be good as something readable" and wrote his own version.

[.Rikku.]

Wicked. It is an interesting story. I just started it so I can't really tell if it is good or not, yet.

[LegendShark]

It's not.

I liked it okay back in high school but I reread it a little afterwards and realized how bad it was.

I liked it.

I'm not sure how good it is, but I liked it. The problem is that it doesn't really say anything.

[Jenius]

Presently reading Blink, got it from my grandma for christmas.

Seems vaugely interesting, but the author seems to be overrating instinct from what I've seen so far. They basically start off with the premise that hard science failed where the gut instinct of a few people in the field succeeded (they "knew" something was off about a fake statue but couldn't place it), which is all fine and dandy but it comes full circle when hard science needs to go back and prove the gut instinct was right.

Basically the author is saying that hunches are incredibly accurate because your subconscious is magical but ignoring the fact that for the most part good decisions/whatever are made from a process that goes something like hunch->test->new hunch if test failed, repeat->conclusion if test succeeded.

[notallama]

pale fire
i lost it

[Penner]

Presently reading Blink, got it from my grandma for christmas.

Seems vaugely interesting, but the author seems to be overrating instinct from what I've seen so far. They basically start off with the premise that hard science failed where the gut instinct of a few people in the field succeeded (they "knew" something was off about a fake statue but couldn't place it), which is all fine and dandy but it comes full circle when hard science needs to go back and prove the gut instinct was right.

Basically the author is saying that hunches are incredibly accurate because your subconscious is magical but ignoring the fact that for the most part good decisions/whatever are made from a process that goes something like hunch->test->new hunch if test failed, repeat->conclusion if test succeeded.
I've read Blink and Outliers. I enjoyed the books, but the author Malcolm Gladwell came across as a massive prick. Sadly, I don't know why I have this opinion. Something about the way he wrote just irked me, but I read though the books anyways because they were interesting.

aaaanyways, if you enjoyed Blink, you should enjoy Outliers.

[Tee See Em]

I've read Blink and Outliers. I enjoyed the books, but the author Malcolm Gladwell came across as a massive prick. Sadly, I don't know why I have this opinion. Something about the way he wrote just irked me, but I read though the books anyways because they were interesting.

aaaanyways, if you enjoyed Blink, you should enjoy Outliers.
I read Outliers, and my impression was that he has a lot of interesting ideas, and a lot of interesting information, but I don't think he draws it all together very well, and I don't agree all of his conclusions. I'd probably recommend reading it.

I'm going to start working on The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Reality) sooner or later. I got it for christmas and keep meaning to start it but it's a bit of an intimidating mass of pages.

[Naga]

I'm going to start working on The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Reality) sooner or later. I got it for christmas and keep meaning to start it but it's a bit of an intimidating mass of pages.

So, if I were to start reading that book, would it be way over my head?

[notallama]

i lost it

i found it again

[Avedomni]

I'm going to start working on The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Reality) sooner or later. I got it for christmas and keep meaning to start it but it's a bit of an intimidating mass of pages.Be wary; in the first half (the mathematics section) he goes rather rapidly from assuming almost no mathematical background to assuming you're comfortable with differential geometry (which, granted, he introduces). In essence he compresses something like a half-dozen to a dozen undergraduate mathematics courses into ~350 pages by conveniently skipping anything resembling a formal proof. This is fine if you just want to use the results, but a lot of people have complained that, even after doing the provided problem sets, the method doesn't really help them understand the mathematics which leaves them floundering when it's applied in later chapters.

The physics section is a little easier to cope with. It begins with special relativity, essentially ignores basic Newtonian physics (ie, most of the stuff you'd learn in a sophomore-level physics series), swings through general relativity, quantum mechanics and dynamics, some related notions from thermodynamics, and introductions to quantum field theory, string-theory and quantum gravity, and then the last few chapters are devoted to twistor theory which is his proposal for a theory of quantum-gravity. The rest of the physics is pretty well accepted, but you should be aware (as he mentions) that the last couple of chapters are not nearly so standard.
So, if I were to start reading that book, would it be way over my head?That depends on your mathematical and physical backgrounds and intuition, your general level of intelligence, and the amount of time you have to devote to studying the material. It's not a popular-science book like The Universe in a Nutshell or The Fabric of the Cosmos which can be read rather casually, but you could probably read it like one if you just ignored all the math and were willing to look up unfamiliar terms regularly.

[Tee See Em]

I'm a few of chapters in now. It starts pretty easily, discussing some history and philosophy of math and science, with most of the little actual math so bar being related to his introduction of hyperbolic geometry. I'm very much enjoying it.Be wary; in the first half (the mathematics section) he goes rather rapidly from assuming almost no mathematical background to assuming you're comfortable with differential geometry (which, granted, he introduces). In essence he compresses something like a half-dozen to a dozen undergraduate mathematics courses into ~350 pages by conveniently skipping anything resembling a formal proof. This is fine if you just want to use the results, but a lot of people have complained that, even after doing the provided problem sets, the method doesn't really help them understand the mathematics which leaves them floundering when it's applied in later chapters.Thanks for the warning, I'll keep it in mind. I really do want to understand the material on at least a bit more than a superficial level, so I'll start looking up topics elsewhere when if I get lost.The physics section is a little easier to cope with. It begins with special relativity, essentially ignores basic Newtonian physics (ie, most of the stuff you'd learn in a sophomore-level physics series), swings through general relativity, quantum mechanics and dynamics, some related notions from thermodynamics, and introductions to quantum field theory, string-theory and quantum gravity, and then the last few chapters are devoted to twistor theory which is his proposal for a theory of quantum-gravity. The rest of the physics is pretty well accepted, but you should be aware (as he mentions) that the last couple of chapters are not nearly so standard.Yeah, I was aware of the deviations from the mode widely-accepted theories before I chose it, and he's already been strongly disclaiming where his views differ from the norm. I figured that since it's coming from someone like him, it's still likely to be very interesting and at least remotely plausible.
So, if I were to start reading that book, would it be way over my head?That depends on your mathematical and physical backgrounds and intuition, your general level of intelligence, and the amount of time you have to devote to studying the material. It's not a popular-science book like The Universe in a Nutshell or The Fabric of the Cosmos which can be read rather casually, but you could probably read it like one if you just ignored all the math and were willing to look up unfamiliar terms regularly.http://imgur.com/2YGD7s.jpg (http://imgur.com/2YGD7.jpg)Off-topic, but since you reply made me curious: what education do you have?

Slightly less off-topic: I love the cover I've included here so much, but unfortunately my copy looks like it was made by someone who just discovered WordArt. Boo.

[LegendShark]

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey.

[Avedomni]

I figured that since it's coming from someone like him, it's still likely to be very interesting and at least remotely plausible.Oh, it definitely is that.
Off-topic, but since you reply made me curious: what education do you have?I'm a senior undergraduate majoring in math and physics (at least until I apply to graduate, at which time I'll be dropping the physics), which in my case translates to 27 quarter-credits of upper-division undergraduate mathematics courses, 21 quarter-credits of graduate math courses (counting the 15 I'm taking right now), and 26 quarter-credits of upper-division undergraduate physics courses (in addition to standard lower-division work and mundane university requirements).

[Fonzy]

Just bought a copy of Anna Karenina for the trip to New Mexico.

[Shadow]

communist manifesto for school lolololol

[Skydin]

Holy shit how long has this been here?

The Death Gate Cycle: Serpent Mage ~ Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

[Captain Piano]

'Blink' by Malcom Gladwell. It's kind of stupid but still interesting and useful to have read it, I guess.

[Cara]

Blankets.

It's a comic.

It's also wonderful and beautiful.

[Penner]

'Blink' by Malcom Gladwell. It's kind of stupid but still interesting and useful to have read it, I guess.

+1

So I feel obligated to read the Catcher in the Rye now.. Added to the booklist

[Kant]

Penner, you never went through high school?

Currently reading 2666, Rise and Fall of the Great powers (kinda too late, I maybe should have read that instead of Kissinger during senior year), and like the 20 million books for school.

[Tee See Em]

So I feel obligated to read the Catcher in the Rye now.. Added to the booklistAye as well, and talking about it brought up that I also never read The Great Gatsby in high school either, like most of my friends did, so I plan to do so just so I that I have.Penner, you never went through high school?In our schools the teachers had the choice of a couple of different books for each thing in the curriculum, I never happened to read it.

[Fonzy]

Aye as well, and talking about it brought up that I also never read The Great Gatsby in high school either, like most of my friends did, so I plan to do so just so I that I have.In our schools the teachers had the choice of a couple of different books for each thing in the curriculum, I never happened to read it.

Actually same, I've never read either of those.

[Kant]

I'd say Gatsby is one of those books that can seem amazing now matter how old you are when you read it. Catcher in the Rye is one of those books where you need to be in the high-school-depressive stage for it to really hit home.

To further the analogy, Catcher is like the Neon Genesis Evangelion of high school lit--if you experienced it while being in the target demo it'll be the deepest thing ever, but if you first get it a couple years down the road you'll wonder what the fuss was about.

[Naga]

Penner, you never went through high school?

I read it of my own volition. The books we read in high school were popular trash, mostly.

[Tony3]

Emeril at the Grill, which doesn't really count.

Also I have Stephen King's- Under the Dome sitting on my desk, that I want to read, but I can never get myself to start.

[ProphetKing]

Trying to convince myself to read something as I did years ago, failing.

My one friend has been for seven years trying to get me to read Sword of Fire and Ice.

[Zerg]

Catcher in the Rye was terrible.

Not reading anything at the moment, but was looking to pick something up. Stumbled upon a couple things I'd like to read in this thread.

I guess the last things were "By Hook or By Crook" by David Crystal (a linguistics book; Crystal is an amazing writer who manages to make stuff that would put 90% of the people to sleep extremely interesting) and "Why aren't they here: The question of life on other worlds" (pretty mediocre in general, but has enough interesting bits).

[Kant]

I'm thinking of getting a Philip K. Dick book. My personal favorite right now by him is Clans of the Alphane Moon (about an asylum planet that has a caste society based on what kind of crazy you are), but I've read all of his better known works--Androids, Man in the High castle

Does anyone have a suggestion for his weirder, later works?

[Purser The Guy]

Catcher in the Rye was terrible.Vindication!

EDIT: Currently reading Shadowrun 4th edition Core Rulebook.

[Tee See Em]

Mainly reading The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan.

[ProphetKing]

Mainly reading The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan.Sounds like a troll book.

[Tee See Em]

Sounds like a troll book.
It's sort-of about critical thinking and why people believe crazy things. Kind of depressing, actually.

[Tidal Kraken]

http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/

and

http://www.themodernword.com/eco/eco_blackshirt.html

[LegendShark]

This:

Headache… I feel like I’m bleeding…. A terrible voice…echoing in my head… “Drink the coffee you fucking wimp!”
Eyes open. First thing I do is feel the side of my head. It’s ok. It’s not bleeding. I look at my clock. 6:30. School today. I get up and look at myself in the mirror. Messy hair. I smile. Today’s going to be a good day.
I brush my teeth like a wild man. Then I fall asleep. Then I wake up again. I take my shower. I fall asleep again in the shower. Then I wake up. Sperm in hand. Better wash it off. I go over to the sink and do so. I finish my shower. I put on deodorant. I get dressed.
I go downstairs for breakfast. Raisin Bran Crunch only feet away. I look down at one of the tiles at the corner of my chair. It’s white. No longer stained with blood. My mom is making breakfast. She doesn’t work. She’s a subservient woman. Why? The man in front of me.
That man is my father. Fifty-two years old. Clean shaven. Dashing. Damn good looking. He sips his coffee mug. I get the chills whenever I see him drink from a coffee mug. Getting hit on the side of the head with it is not the best feeling in the world. He reads the paper.
“I miss not being in the headlines,” he says. He has standards my father. A broadcaster on NBC once called my father the most brilliant lawyer since Alan Derschowitz. I mean I’m not joking around or being biased, this man in front of me was brilliant. Top of his class. Honor/AP student. Harvard. Worked for some of the biggest firms. Reckless. Brilliant.
But like most lawyers, he’s an asshole. Getting off guilty-ass fuckers who deserve to rot. If parents are hypocrites, my dad is the king of them. Behind that smile and promise of, “I’ll win you your rights” is a liar, a fiend, a person who pretends to be a hero when he’s really a scoundrel. A man who cares only about himself. A man who will destroy you for his advantage, no matter who you are. A hypocrite. A bastard. A fucking cocksucker. Ha. Irony.
The coffee mug thing won’t leave my mind. Whenever I see him drinking coffee every hair on my body stands. Defense mechanisms prepare itself for the worst.
I finish my bowl. I go over to the sink. Next to me is that trashcan. It scares the shit out of me. I wash my bowl. I kiss my mom goodbye. Speaking of my mom, she’s passive. Doesn’t oppose a single thing my father says. He knows this and takes advantage of it. Just watch them at the dinner conversation. He treats her almost like a child, a little fellow he only has there for a good fuck. I believe it was Shakespeare who said, “Frailty, thy name is women!”
Anyway, I wave to my dad with that fake smile of mine. He smiles and waves back also. As I walk out I hear “Jesus honey. That faggot Josephs got elected mayor—” Shut up you hypocrite.
I get on the bus and sit by myself. I don’t talk to any of the kids on my bus. I just sit there and listen to my music. I’m listening to, what’s the name, “Man in the Mirror”…
That bastard just came home from one of his ‘meetings’ aka fuck sessions with Craig. Anyway, he went into the kitchen. I followed him in there.
“Ugh Ryan,” he spoke, “Quite a meeting.” Part of me laughed inside. “Lots of work,” hard work, “Lots of arguing”, breathing and moaning, “There was this one lawyer, uh, what the fuck’s”, like a volcano, “his name, um, Chris Daniels! He’s the one on the other side. Real pain-in-the-ass,” sweat, hard work, breathing, moaning, liquids, sperm, “Ryan, why are you staring at my zipper?”
Fuck. I was. I look at the clock on the…too fucking random. Coffee pot! Yes. I look at the coffee pot.
“Coffee’s ready…want some?”
No.
“Son…be a man…drink some…”
Just stare at him. It can work.
“Failure at sports, doesn’t drink coffee, stares at my zipper? This is unmanly, as old William Shakespeare would say… you going to drink some?” A mug was held up to me. “There’s half and half in the fridge...” I didn’t budge.
OWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!! FUCK!!!!!! Am I bleeding? Jesus Christ am I bleeding? Make it stop make it stop make it stop
“I SAID DRINK THE COFFEE YOU FUCKING WIMP!”
The tile hurts…
Eyes open again. Insomnia’s annoying. I can’t fall asleep at night so I fall asleep here. On the bus.
Don’t worry man. What bad can happen today? Put a smile on that face! I did.

When I saw Jake at school, my face lit up. He was the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. He was my personal confidant, my most trusted friend. We high-fived and winked at one another. My thumb rubbed his middle knuckle. That meant 3rd period.
First period: gym. Sucks like usual. Why were we playing kickball with a medicine ball?
Second period: Latin. Easy class. Sit and daydream and get an A. That’s when I would think about Jake. And how my father would flip if he knew about us. As I translate a page of Latin, I think about the first time I fucked him. In the boys bathroom. I discovered who I truly was, that day. I discovered my true feelings. I discovered how much I hate my father. It was one of the greatest moments of my life.
Third period: history. Slightly bummed about missing it, it’s one of my favorite classes. My teacher was just about to talk about Franz Ferdinand’s assassination when I asked if I could go to the nurse. My teacher instantly said yes: I was one of her favorite students.
I go the bathroom and experience another great moment.
I come back 35 minutes after I left class. I told her it was a long line. She nodded. I couldn’t say the word gullible though, I’m a pretty good liar.
Fourth period: pre-calc. The math in this subject is actually pretty fun, compared to geometry. That and what I did the period before is making this day a very good one so far.
Fifth period: band. As I walk into the band room, Holden walks up to me, whispers “Hey Ryan! Did you hear about that thing in the bathroom?” That stopped my heart. “What happened in the bathroom?” “Two gay guys were having sex.” “That’s weird,” I said to him. I felt guilty for lying to him though. He’s a friend, unlike a certain household member. I play my trumpet with paranoid eyes.
Sixth period: music theory. Convenient. Next door down. Whispers were growing. They were from last period also. I wonder if Jake’s aware of the whispers.
Seventh period: Spanish. The hairs on my arm stand. Someone notices my nervousness, “Why is your leg shaking?” I look at it and stop. Gotta be more on guard. Some kid then points to me and whispers to his friend on the side. I’m getting really fucking nervous right now. Who could’ve been watching? I felt all their eyes staring at me. How did they know? How the fuck did they know?
“Ryan,” said my teacher, “Guidance wants you to go down to the principal’s office…”

My dad hangs up after talking to his lawyer. He stares at me, angrily. My weakling of a mom just sits there in her passive nature.
“Hm,” said my dad, flexing his arms, “You’ve fucked us up big time. You know that? Because of you, I have to get my friend to threaten to sue the kid that saw you to cover up this whole thing. But the world won’t know. Hopefully this shit won’t fuck up my career, because it could.”
I don’t know what to say anymore.
“You goanna speak?” asked this man.
“Your anger is pathetic,” I spoke.
“That’s it?” he asked, “I’ve been waiting for a response about why my son was caught fucking Jake Carrey in the bathroom, and this is it? Huh?”
“Yep,” I said.
“Say something meaningful. You’re a fucking AP student! You can do better than that!”
“What else do you want to know? You know everything. You know that I’ve done what I’ve done. And I don’t plan to stop.”
“You are going to stop this shit. You’re not going to even think about this again.”
“Why can’t I?” I ask rhetorically.
“No son of mine is going to be a faggot!”
“Hypocrite.” Silence.
“What did you just call me?”
“Hypocrite,” I said, “Cocksucking, ballrubbing, takes-it-up-the-butt, sperm-drooling hypocrite.” Awkward silence. “I’m sorry, did I break your concentration?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Those ‘meetings’ with the other lawyers. When you’re really fucking a male office aid, or some intern, or somebody fresh out of Princeton.”
The man in front of me is lost for words. “Are you doing drugs or something?” He starts laughing. I can hear the nervous shaking of his laughter. “Not only is our son gay, but now he smokes weed too!”
I just stare at him. He stops laughing. I continue, “I’ve never done drugs before. Has Craig?”
I hit the mark there. I just ducked to miss his swing.
“Ha,” I laugh. “How big is Craig’s dick?”
The man takes another swing & miss.
“Nine inches?” I playfully say, “Longer is better I suppose.”
The man takes a breath. Panic in his eyes. Searching for something. A weapon against this rebel. “I’m calling up Jeffrey. There is a place for people like you. A place to cure you.”
Run Ryan. Run like hell. Run toward the…hew missed another swing. I ran out onto the grass. I ran like hell. Houses flashing before my eyes. Random neighbors probably wondering why a teenager is running like crazy on a school night. Just keep running. Or they’ll cure you. Keep running. Keep running…
I still feel that coffee mug.

[Tee See Em]

Made even moreso by the fact that he died shortly after finishing it.
Eh. We were watching Contact the other day and remembering that he died during its production sucked.

Finished The Demon Haunted World a few days ago. The last few chapters talk about things like politics and education and are awesome.

Placing an order now for The Extended Phenotype (Dawkins); Cosmos (Sagan) and The Large, the Small and the Human Mind (Penrose with Hawking and others). Books are so cheap for the amount of awesome they contain. I am going to have a great library in ten years. Maaaaan.

[Tee See Em]

Eh. We were watching Contact the other day and remembering that he died during its production sucked.

Finished The Demon Haunted World a few days ago. The last few chapters talk about things like politics and education and are awesome.

Placing an order now for The Extended Phenotype (Dawkins); Cosmos (Sagan) and The Large, the Small and the Human Mind (Penrose with Hawking and others). Books are so cheap for the amount of awesome they contain. I am going to have a great library in ten years. Maaaaan.
Man, having a low-responsibility job is great. The next six months going to be amazing. School I can breeze through, work I don't have to stress about and enough money to provide a constant supply of new reading material and pot.

[Cara]

I'm thinking of getting a Philip K. Dick book. My personal favorite right now by him is Clans of the Alphane Moon (about an asylum planet that has a caste society based on what kind of crazy you are), but I've read all of his better known works--Androids, Man in the High castle

Does anyone have a suggestion for his weirder, later works?

The Cardboard Universe is the best weirdest Phillip K Dick book.

[Purser The Guy]

Man, having a low-responsibility job is great. The next six months going to be amazing. School I can breeze through, work I don't have to stress about and enough money to provide a constant supply of new reading material and pot.
That's pretty much my life right there, just minus the school and pot. :V

[Caldera42]

Anti-Oedipus - Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari
The Myth of Mental Illness - Thomas Szasz

[Kant]

Family by Ba Jin. It's about a period in China (the 1910's and 20's which basically had the largest generational gap ever. Like, you could be a liberal/anarchist/socialist/bolshevik, but your parents could easily have participated in the previous monarchy's administration and be heavily monarchist, and forget about grandparents.

Beyond that it's also about how the Confucian family system fucks everyone over. One of the most sympathetic characters is Hsin, who is a really intelligent student who wants to study science, but since he's the eldest brother, he's basically made head of the family at the age of 20, and has his wife and job chosen for him and is used by his female relatives as a puppet.

[Naga]

Microserfs, Douglas Coupland.

[Fonzy]

The Myth of Mental Illness - Thomas Szasz

ZoMG that sounds like some Scientology book.

[Kant]

Ironically Szasz sounds like the name a monster in a myth would have.

One of the fucked up Babylonian myths though, not the greek shit

[Caldera42]

ZoMG that sounds like some Scientology book.Oddly enough... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szasz#Relationship_to_Citizens_Commission_on_Human_Rights)

[LegendShark]

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest is a much better book than it is a movie, though it is a terrific movie.

I feel like when they adapted it they made a conscious effort to keep the story but remove all of the symbolism. I mean, the story is fantastic, and the movie is extremely well done, but where are my boners going to come from? Jack Nicholson?

[Captain Piano]

Symbolism is so lame, anyway.

[Avedomni]

Should be:
Louis XIV and Absolutism: A Brief Study with Documents for the 2000 word essay due Tuesday.

Is:
Diagrammatica: The Path to Feynman Diagrams.

[Captain Piano]

Should be: Psychological Science, chapter on Consciousness

Is: Jeremy's Forum of Calm and Polite Members :V

[LegendShark]

Symbolism is so lame, anyway.

NO U

[mrs_bun]

lovely bones, when life almost died, the riemann hypothesis

[mrs_bun]

oh and like totally some magazines prolly or something tee hee

[Yurgs]

Behemoth: The Structure and Practice of National Socialism, 1933-1944 by Franz Neumann

[Avedomni]

Louis XIV and Absolutism: A Brief Study with Documents for the 2000 word essay due Tuesday.

[twin1]

Anti-Oedipus - Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari
The Myth of Mental Illness - Thomas Szasz

Its really got to be fun to get to say that one has a batman villain named because of them. I'm curious as to why you've picked up Szasz, seeing as he's not an author I've heard of being picked up for random reading.

Also I'm just getting into Foundation's Edge by Asimov.

[Caldera42]

Its really got to be fun to get to say that one has a batman villain named because of them. I'm curious as to why you've picked up Szasz, seeing as he's not an author I've heard of being picked up for random reading.

Also I'm just getting into Foundation's Edge by Asimov.My brother is a Psych major and gave it to me for Christmas.

[Captain Piano]

Mental Causation, by Jaegwon Kim

:boogans:

[Tee See Em]

I have decided I should be spending more money on books, to stock up forever when I have spare money. I'm probably ordering


Foundation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_%28novel%29) (Asimov)
Foundation and Empire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_and_Empire) (Asimov)
Second Foundation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Foundation) (Asimov)
The Nature of Space and Time (http://www.amazon.com/Nature-Space-Time-Princeton-Science/dp/0691145709/) (Hawking and Penrose)
God Created the Integers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Created_the_Integers) (edited by Hawking)
Island (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_%28novel%29) (Huxley)
The Doors of Perception (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doors_of_Perception) // Heaven and Hell (Huxley)
Pale Blue Dot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_Blue_Dot_%28book%29) (Sagan)
Entering Space (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entering_Space) (Zubrin)

[Caldera42]

Adding to the other 2:

No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive - Lee Edelman

[Tee See Em]

Foundation is amazing.

[Tee See Em]

Foundation is amazing.Have finished the first one, need to wait for SE/Aaron to finish reading the second one before I can get it from him. So good.

[jok3r]

Maxim.

[twin1]

Just starting Foundation and Earth now.

[Captain Piano]

The Archaic Revival - Terrence McKenna

[jok3r]

I want to start reading Sherlock Holmes books.

[Tee See Em]

I want to start reading Sherlock Holmes books.
A picked up a big paperback anthology for $4 new several years ago. It was a good deal.

[Regret]

Ulysses

[Tee See Em]

I have decided I should be spending more money on books, to stock up forever when I have spare money. I'm probably ordering


Foundation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_%28novel%29) (Asimov)
Foundation and Empire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_and_Empire) (Asimov)
Second Foundation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Foundation) (Asimov)
The Nature of Space and Time (http://www.amazon.com/Nature-Space-Time-Princeton-Science/dp/0691145709/) (Hawking and Penrose)
God Created the Integers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Created_the_Integers) (edited by Hawking)
Island (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_%28novel%29) (Huxley)
The Doors of Perception (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doors_of_Perception) // Heaven and Hell (Huxley)
Pale Blue Dot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_Blue_Dot_%28book%29) (Sagan)
Entering Space (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entering_Space) (Zubrin)

Placed order.


1 of: Foundation and Earth (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0553587579/ref=ox_ya_oh_product)
1 of: The Nature of Space and Time: (New in Paper) (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0691145709/ref=ox_ya_oh_product)
1 of: Quintessence: Basic Readings from the Philosophy of W. V. Quine (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0674027558/ref=ox_ya_oh_product)
1 of: Entering Space (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1585420360/ref=ox_ya_oh_product)
1 of: God Created the Integers: The Mathematical Breakthroughs that Changed History (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0762430044/ref=ox_ya_oh_product)
1 of: Island (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0061561797/ref=ox_ya_oh_product)
1 of: Foundation's Edge (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0553293389/ref=ox_ya_oh_product)
1 of: The Doors Of Perception And Heaven And Hell (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0061729078/ref=ox_ya_oh_product)
Sold by: Amazon.com.ca, Inc.


Removed "Pale Blue Dot" because it turns out my brother is getting it for his birthday next week and just added Quintessence: Basic Readings from the Philosophy of W. V. Quine (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0674027558/ref=ox_ya_oh_product) because we were going to get is book Methods of Logic but Amazon didn't have it available and I saw this in his list of books on Amazon and looked him up on Wikipedia and thought it sounded interesting. Didn't really think about it.

[Sven_v2.0_LITE]

Foundation is amazing.

Were it not for the gray box and the proper capitalization, I would think that this were bun posting about makeup.

[Tee See Em]

Ha. I'm going to start reading A history of knowledge: past, present, and future (http://books.google.ca/books?id=apP50Yw85QkC) by Charles Lincoln Van Doren. I read the first chapter six months ago and I think I really liked it.

[Fonzy]

Picked up Brothers Karamazov for the next flight.

[Tee See Em]

Placed order.


1 of: Foundation and Earth (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0553587579/ref=ox_ya_oh_product)
1 of: The Nature of Space and Time: (New in Paper) (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0691145709/ref=ox_ya_oh_product)
1 of: Quintessence: Basic Readings from the Philosophy of W. V. Quine (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0674027558/ref=ox_ya_oh_product)
1 of: Entering Space (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1585420360/ref=ox_ya_oh_product)
1 of: God Created the Integers: The Mathematical Breakthroughs that Changed History (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0762430044/ref=ox_ya_oh_product)
1 of: Island (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0061561797/ref=ox_ya_oh_product)
1 of: Foundation's Edge (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0553293389/ref=ox_ya_oh_product)
1 of: The Doors Of Perception And Heaven And Hell (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0061729078/ref=ox_ya_oh_product)
Sold by: Amazon.com.ca, Inc.

Removed "Pale Blue Dot" because it turns out my brother is getting it for his birthday next week and just added Quintessence: Basic Readings from the Philosophy of W. V. Quine (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0674027558/ref=ox_ya_oh_product) because we were going to get is book Methods of Logic but Amazon didn't have it available and I saw this in his list of books on Amazon and looked him up on Wikipedia and thought it sounded interesting. Didn't really think about it.Books arrived today. Just finished reading The Doors of Perception (it's only about 70 pages, Heaven and Hell is longer than it around 100). It was beautiful.

[Tee See Em]

I've read the first 42 pages of Entering Space by Robert Zubrin. So far it's discussed preciseless how bad the currently state of the space program is and how it got to be this way. It seems very interesting.

[twin1]

I'm just about done with Reza Aslan's How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization, and the End of the War on Terror.

[Captain Piano]

Ulysses

Really want to read this, or something by Joyce. How is it?

[mrs_bun]

inaccessible

[Quesadilla]

inaccessible

Yeah.

Unless you get one of those annotated companion books. Otherwise you will have a hard time understanding what the fuck he's talking about.

[mrs_bun]

Well I mean it isn't ununderstandable, just not very friendly. Not a pleasure to read.

[twin1]

The moon is a harsh mistress.

[mrs_bun]

u didnt say that when i read it. the moon is a harsh mistress is very good. very revolutionary war for our times.

[Caldera42]

All of us Beset by Birth, Decay and Death - Ayya Khema

Outstanding book.

[twin1]

Fear and Loathing in America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist 1968-1976

[Tee See Em]

The Neanderthal Parallax: Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer, pirated from http://bearsite.info.../Library_of_Science_Fiction_and_Fantasy/ ( http://bearsite.info.nyud.net/General/Library_of_Science_Fiction_and_Fantasy/), which seems to have an enormous selection; I'm downloading all of it now. It's a pretty interesting story with a creative premise, a nice and easy read.

[Captain Piano]

Fear and Loathing in America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist 1968-1976

I started this, but got bored because I wasn't familiar with the political landscape in the 1960s and 1970s.

[twin1]

I started this, but got bored because I wasn't familiar with the political landscape in the 1960s and 1970s.

The collections of Thompson's letters are really only for people who want to get a bit of insight as to where he was coming from as a writer. You can basically see how he developed his writing style and his stance on literature from his correspondence with his friends and random people. Also did you read the first collection or did you go into that one without checking it out?

[Captain Piano]

The collections of Thompson's letters are really only for people who want to get a bit of insight as to where he was coming from as a writer. You can basically see how he developed his writing style and his stance on literature from his correspondence with his friends and random people. Also did you read the first collection or did you go into that one without checking it out?

Actually, I got mixed up. I've never picked up the book you're reading. I read like half of Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '68. Too many damn "Fear and Loathing..."

[Caldera42]

Dune - Frank Herbert

I posted this a long while back, but I never got around to actually reading it.

[LegendShark]

I just finished the five Scott Pilgrims. Those books are like candy.

[Shadow]

foucault, bitches

[Naga]

Fingerprints of the Gods - Graham Hancock

[Kant]

yoinked The Rebel by Camus

[Shadow]

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Calvino.

[Tee See Em]

Island by Huxley

It's wonderful. The novel is a platform for him to present philosophical views and an ideal of society and it's very interesting and enjoyable. I'd say it also has a more engaging story than Brave New World, which I found rather slow.

Do recommend strongly.

[Avedomni]

For entertainment:
QED by Feynman
This is an excellent qualitative introduction to Quantum Electrodynamics. I strongly recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in the subject (in fact, I strongly recommend to anyone). It's a popular science text, so you don't need a strong physics or mathematics background.
Not Even Wrong by Woit
I haven't had an opportunity to delve too deeply into this book yet. From what I've gathered, it's basically an indictment of string theory.
For self-study:
Introduction to Elementary Particles by Griffiths (particle physics)
Spacetime and Geometry by Carroll (general relativity)
Supplemented by General Relativity by Wald
Supplemented by Gravitation by Misner, Thorne, and Wheeler
The Quantum Theory of Fields by Weinberg (quantum field theory)
For school:
Macbeth by Shakespeare
Manifolds and Differential Geometry by Lee
Function Theory of One Complex Variable by Greene and Krantz
Lebesgue Integration on Euclidean Spaces by Jones

[Kant]

Universal Rights, in theory and practice by Jack Donnelly
The Chinese Communist Party: Adaptation and Atrophy
Rise of China:Challenges and Opportunities
Dictatorship in Latin America

and a couple others for a research project

[Kant]

The Road to the Wolf's Den

it's about the German resistance to the Nazis, and how most of it was moderate autocrats (priests, army officers) who assumed that Hitler was a pawn for smarter men

[LegendShark]

Atlas Shrugged.

[Fonzy]

So I finished Karamazov a month or so ago and I haven't had the itch to read anything since then (oh yeah, I did read Brave New World, which was gay). I need something engaging, and long.*


*That's what she said.

[Kedster]

Karamazov is one of the books that are my shame. I picked it up many times, but not due to boredom but due to external factors, never was able to finish.

Go with uh-hum. Paul Auster? Love his New York Trilogy, if you're into post-modern shit (albeit, done well).

In other news, just re-finished Case of Charles Dexter Ward. I don't understand why people applaud Lovecraft's mythos over his narration. I mean, his mythos is basically 'Creepy stuff' and 'Even creepier stuff'. He's a superb story-teller though.