What Book Are You Reading? Volume 9

[Glassfan]

Panzer Leader
by Heinz Guderian, 1953, 528 pages.

A forensic, yet enthusiastic account of German rearmament before, and armored operations during, WW II - though without consideration of illegal invasions, treaty violations, or any serious moral doubt or conscience.

Guderian further maintains (pretends?) that as a very senior commander - ultimately Chief of the German General Staff - he was completely unaware of the atrocities of the Waffen SS, the Einsatzgruppen, or the concentration camps.

Having said this, the book is otherwise a fascinating read. Interestingly, having earlier read Hitler and his Generals (transcripts of OKW & OKH staff meetings), Guderian's accounts of Hitler's mistakes or irrational outbursts can be cross-referenced to show the redacting the transcribers carried out to protect the Fuhrer's image.

 

[Gilder]

I finished The Autobiography of Malcolm X. It was actually really good and gave you a real good look at the guy's life and brain.

I'm now reading Everything That Rises Must Converge, a book of short stories by Flannery O'Connor.

 

[Godwynn]

Katz und Maus - Günter Grass

[auf Deutsch]

 

[stormbind]

Java RMI: Remote Method Invocation.

I'm reading it again for

For the development of extensible distributed applications, without the use of industry standards

 

[GoodGame]

Breezed over CodeNotes: XML.

 

[warpus]

I am reading Red Mars

Tried twice before to get into it, and both attempts failed, for some reason. I'm 90 pages in or so so far (reading really slowly) and so far I'm really enjoying it, no idea why I couldn't get into it before.

A couple days after I started reading this thing, Obama announced his Mars vision.. That got me even more into the book.

 

[Karalysia]

I need recommendations of good books written from a preferably Marxist perspective on the causes of Soviet collapse. Any suggestions?

 

[stuge]

Stella Polaris: Finnish military intelligence. An interesting piece about Finnish SIGINT efforts during the continuation war.

 

[The Imp]

I need recommendations of good books written from a preferably Marxist perspective on the causes of Soviet collapse. Any suggestions?

Whatever propaganda the Soviet Union was putting out in its death throes is not sufficient?

I kid.

 

[Agent327]

Panzer Leader
by Heinz Guderian, 1953, 528 pages.

A forensic, yet enthusiastic account of German rearmament before, and armored operations during, WW II - though without consideration of illegal invasions, treaty violations, or any serious moral doubt or conscience.

Guderian further maintains (pretends?) that as a very senior commander - ultimately Chief of the German General Staff - he was completely unaware of the atrocities of the Waffen SS, the Einsatzgruppen, or the concentration camps.

Although theoretically possible, it seems to me rather a case of blind eye. Persecutions, inclduing rounding up of oppsoition in camps, started well before the war, in fact right after Hitlers coup in 1933. In order for Guderian to not have known about such things he must have been blind and deaf. This reminds me of Speer's selfjustification in his biography; since he basically was in charge of the Reich's building activities he must have known of the extensive use of slave labour by, mostly Eastern European, POWs, but claimed not to be aware of it...

I finished The Autobiography of Malcolm X. It was actually really good and gave you a real good look at the guy's life and brain.

I quite agree - although it's been some time since I read it. A remarkable book and highly recommendable reading.

Katz und Maus - Günter Grass

[auf Deutsch]

Good for you!

 

[holy king]

when nietzsche wept by Irvin D. Yalom

This talky first novel by psychotherapist Yalom is set in 1882, when Joseph Breuer, an eminent physician and mentor of Sigmund Freud, strives to apply his recently discovered talking cure to the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

in german, as it's one of those free books the city of vienna has printed every year.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Whatever propaganda the Soviet Union was putting out in its death throes is not sufficient?

I kid.

I think the implication is that he doesn't like Gorbachev.

 

[Richard Cribb]

I need recommendations of good books written from a preferably Marxist perspective on the causes of Soviet collapse. Any suggestions?

Here is what I posted in your other thread:
Not my special field, but you might be interested in this one: Socialism Betrayed by Roger Keeran and Thomas Kenney

Go here for an interview with the authors:
http://mltoday.com/index.php?option=...=469&Itemid=57

when nietzsche wept by Irvin D. Yalom



in german, as it's one of those free books the city of vienna has printed every year.

That is quite a good novel.
Finished SOBS. Uneven as is usual with anthologies. I can recommend it with certain reservations, at least for anybody at least slightly Sherlockian.
Right now I am perusing different history works for the purpose of finishing the PM-quiz.

 

[Karalysia]

Here is what I posted in your other thread:
Not my special field, but you might be interested in this one: Socialism Betrayed by Roger Keeran and Thomas Kenney

Go here for an interview with the authors:
http://mltoday.com/index.php?option=...=469&Itemid=57

I picked it up in the library, along with about 4 other books. Very interesting so far.


Socialism Betrayed by Keernan

Dissolution by Walker about national sovereignty as the main theme

Rethinking the Soviet Collapse: Sovietology and the Death and Commounism and the New Russia by Michael Cox

A History of Modern Russia from Tsarism to the 21st Century by Robert Service

The USSR 1987-1991: Marxist Perspective by Vogot-Downey

 

[The Imp]

I think the implication is that he doesn't like Gorbachev.

I know, but I was simply jesting.

 

[Masada]

Economics of Southeast Asia - S.R. Vemuri: Interesting if not particularly good, which is disappointing considering my extreme fondness for the subject.

The Economic Naturalist: Why Economics Explains Almost Everything - R. H. Frank: Good. It was enjoyable to read a popular economics book that wasn't a sermon. For the record I loathed Freaknomics even if I managed to finish it. (I'll admit I skimmed the last few chapters). And I couldn't finish The World Is Flat by T. L. Friedman and that has nothing to do with the piss poor writing and everything to do with the vapid intellectualizing. I'm sure Inno and I would agree on the bulk of our criticisms of that last particular piece of dross if we read it jointly.

Midnights Children - Salman Rushdie : I'll admit that I'm a big fan of McCarthy and Falkner and the sparse style of writing they embody so I came to Rushdie with some misgivings. I was pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed the novel so much so that I'm wondering if a certain poster we shall call him K-S could recommend a good modern history of India/Pakistan.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

And I couldn't finish The World Is Flat by T. L. Friedman and that has nothing to do with the piss poor writing and everything to do with the vapid intellectualizing.

My girlfriend is reading that now, despite my attempts to dissuade her. Fortunately I have met the enemy at the gates, and firmly dispelled the idea of a "flat world" as being just, though I'm sure her research into Ghana this semester taught her that quite well already, but she seems to think that the book is still worth reading, because she's learning about how the internet came about. Or something.

Whatever. I've got her reading Letters From a Stoic in parallel, so I consider it an overall victory.

I'm almost done with The New Industrial State. I will most likely begin The History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell next. Quite anxious.

 

[Mr Blue]

The Emperor Wears No Clothes by Jack Herer

 

[Azale]

Here are some bookz I recently purchased, though it will be a while before I get around to them:

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown
A Generation of Materialism by Carlton J.H. Hayes
The Development of Modern France 1870-1939 Vol. 1 by D.W. Brogan
The Development of Modern France 1870-1939 Vol. 2 by D.W. Brogan
A Savage War of Peace by Alistaire Horne
The Spanish Empire in America by Clarence Haring
Renaissance Princes, Popes, and Prelates by Vespasiano
Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh
The Chinese: Their History and Culture by Kenneth Scott Latourette
The War Lords by A.J.P. Taylor

All of those books, sans A Savage War of Peace & Gang Leader for a Day, cost me $1 total. I love book sales

 

[Masada]

My girlfriend is reading that now, despite my attempts to dissuade her. Fortunately I have met the enemy at the gates, and firmly dispelled the idea of a "flat world" as being just, though I'm sure her research into Ghana this semester taught her that quite well already, but she seems to think that the book is still worth reading, because she's learning about how the internet came about. Or something.

Get her to balance it with something half decent like I dunno: Rodrik's Has Globalization Gone Too Far. It ain't Marxist but it does involve critical thought which is an improvement over nothing. And Ghana is probably not the ideal country for her to studying if you wanna make a Marxist out of her.

I'm almost done with The New Industrial State.

Would you recommend it?

I will most likely begin The History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell next.

And I'm wondering if that should be on my Amazon buying list. Now, I wonder if anyone could recommend me still more books I should have:

Masada's stuff:

A History of Australia: The Beginning of Australian Civilization - C. M. Clark;
A History of Australia: New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land 1822-1838 - C. M. Clark;
Historical Dictionary of Indonesia (Historical Dictionaries of Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East) - R. Cribb;
Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia - H. Feith;
The Indianized States of Southeast Asia 1st Ed. - G. Coedes;
History, Culture & Region in Southeast Asian Perspectives (Studies on Southeast Asia, Vol 26) - O. W. Wolters; and
Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450-1680: Volume One: The Lands below the Winds - A. Reid.

Cheezy's recommendations:

Political Economy - A. Leontiev;
The Dictatorship of the Proletariat - K. Kautsky
A History of Modern Russia: From Nicholas II to Vladimir Putin, Revised Edition - R. Service;
Age of Revolution - E. Hobsbawm;
History and Class Consciousness: Studies in Marxist Dialectics - G. Lukác;
Everyday Stalinism: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s - S. Fitzpatrick; and
An Introduction to Marxist Economic Theory - E. Mandel.

Azale's recommendations:

The Third Reich: A New History - Dr. M. Burleigh;
Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty - B. K. Martin; and
Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia - A. Rashid.

Dach's recommendations:

The Making of Byzantium, 600-1025 - M. Whitto;
The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy - P. H. Wilson;
Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age (Hellenistic Culture and Society) - P. Green;
The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages, 400-1000 (Penguin History of Europe) - C. Wickham
The First World War - H. Strachaw; and
The Struggle for Mastery in Europe: 1848-1918 (Oxford History of Modern Europe) - Alan J. P. Taylor.

Yui's recommendations:

Basic Economics 3rd Ed: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy - T. Sowell.

As a note this represents the majority of my reading for the next six months. I do live in a colonial outpost of a colonial outpost if that helps to explain my apparent profligacy. I'm willing to add to the list History, Philosophy, Economics, Politics, Literature and whatever else people are willing to assure me is quality. So feel free to recommend.