Which book are you reading now? Volume XI

[Smellincoffee]

Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations.

Not as good as Alain de Botton's Consolations of Philosophy, but I'll gamely cheer for anything which promotes Stoicism, Epicureanism, or a more considered life in general.

 

[Takhisis]

Fungi from Yuggoth.

 

[Arakhor]

Oh, that chap from Yuggoth? He's hilarious!

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Started Ulysses by James Joyce (version based on 1939 Odyssey Press Edition, notes by Sam Slote). On Part II now, and it's certainly...something. Enjoying the references, and Proteus was an interesting chapter to read. The dated language makes it somewhat harder to read than Gravity's Rainbow.

I got some cheap books at the Toronto Reference Library, and since I needed space, started one of my finds. Final Flight starts out nice enough with a knowledgeable introduction to carrier flight operations, but the author, Stephen Coonts is not on the caliber of better thriller writers like Larry Bond. The bon mots aren't bon enough, and the characterization of the main villain is very subpar. Oh well, I'm sure it'll provide enough entertainment to justify the 10 cents I paid for it.

 

[Snerk]

Finally started A Dance With Dragons. It's good to be back in Westeros.

 

[Smellincoffee]

Just finished Tevye's Daughters, onto Leofric, Sword of the Angles.

 

[Antilogic]

Recently finished A Country of Vast Designs by Merry. There was a bit of a gap in my reading schedule due to my move, but I remember enjoying it through. It gives insight into how the Polk administration got into office and then pushed for territorial expansion within the limits of a 19th century government. It's just short of a must-read, but only because it is focused over such a tight time period.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Reading REAMDE for the second time.

 

[Flying Pig]

Finished Adam Tooze's The Wages of Destruction, analysing the economy of Nazi Germany. The general thrust was that German economic and technological brilliance during the war was largely invented by the Allies (often in order to justify their own incompetence) or a measure of a few small areas rather than the whole - instead, Germany was simply eclipsed by taking on economic powers far larger than itself. Certainly worth the high praise that it's been given on CFC.

 

[mech654]

Yes. His book is full of nuance and it's great, because it avoids caricature. Once you get to L'Overture it gets amazing. I won't spoil the ending, in case you aren't familiar with that episode of history, but he does the perfect job of mixing lionization with sober critique and analysis of shortcomings. The whole book is outstanding.

I just finished it, and yeah it is difficult to puts in words how amazing these events were. I mean against all odds, the slave armies were able to repelled the Europeans attempts to (re)claim the colony. But it is tragic how L'Overture attempts to avoid further bloodshed via policy of reconciliation was more or less was his downfall. I mean, the Black laborers felt aliened by it. Since they perceived it way too favorable towards the former Whites slavers, and the French Bourgeoisies only wanted to reclaim the colony and reinstituted slavery. I would agree that C.L.R James does a good job of being supportive of the Revolutionaries goals and yet being critical of them.
Everyone, please go out and get the book it is an fantastic read. You can get an relatively cheap one at Amazon.
The Canadian link
American link
UK link

If you are curiosity, I got the book after I was listening to an episode of In Our time that covered the Revolution.

I use an episode toward the end in my lecture on Napoleon and the later parts of the French Revolution; when you're done with the book I'll tell you which one.

Ooh was it the war of Independence?

I've read more of the Stalin bio than the Lenin one. It's pretty great. I don't like all of Bob's work but his political biographies are good. He has one of Trotsky as well, to complete the trio, but it doesn't seem to get the praise the other two do. I own Stalin and Lenin, but not Trotsky.

Thanks, I have read them sometime ago and was wondering what you opinion was.


The books that I am currently reading:
Hitler: Hubris 1889-1936 by Ian Kershaw
Debt: The first 5,000 years by David Gareber
Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed

 

[Takhisis]

Bede's History of the English Church and People (translated from English into English). Interesting.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

I just finished it, and yeah it is difficult to puts in words how amazing these events were. I mean against all odds, the slave armies were able to repelled the Europeans attempts to (re)claim the colony. But it is tragic how L'Overture attempts to avoid further bloodshed via policy of reconciliation was more or less was his downfall. I mean, the Black laborers felt aliened by it. Since they perceived it way too favorable towards the former Whites slavers, and the French Bourgeoisies only wanted to reclaim the colony and reinstituted slavery. I would agree that C.L.R James does a good job of being supportive of the Revolutionaries goals and yet being critical of them.
Everyone, please go out and get the book it is an fantastic read. You can get an relatively cheap one at Amazon.

Excellent. Glad you liked it

Ooh was it the war of Independence?

"The dishonest political position of the French Army was now taking its toll. The soldiers still thoughts of themselves as a revolutionary army. Yet at nights they heard the blacks in the fortress singing the Marseillaise, the Ca Ira, and the other revolutionary songs. Lacroix records how these misguided wretches, as they heard the songs, started and looked at the officers as if to say, "Have our barbarous enemies justice on their side? Are we no longer the soldiers of Republican France? And have we become the crude instruments of policy?"

A regiment of Poles, remembering their own struggle for nationalism, refused to join in the massacre of 600 blacks, ordered by Leclerc, and later, when Dessalines was reorganizing the local army, he would call one of his regiments the Polish regiment."

Debt: The first 5,000 years by David Gareber

Decent, although Graeber makes a couple fatal mistakes about the nature of debt itself (he doesn't appreciate that debt can sometimes be an asset).

Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed

One of my absolute favorites! If you've never seen the Warren Beatty film Reds (1981) then you should watch it after reading this book.

 

[Smellincoffee]

Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain.

Romanticized but engaging so far.

 

[Ajidica]

Kenya: A History Since Independence by Charles Hornsby.
The author is an excellent researcher, but terrible at making said research interesting. It felt like he struggled to craft a narrative for the reader and instead threw facts at the reader and struggled to fit the facts together.

After that slog I'm catching up on some fiction, and going on a cyberpunk kick.
Count Zero by William Gibson, and the sequel, Mona Lisa Overdrive.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I just finished Life on the Edge by Mcfadden and Al-Kahilili. It is all about quantum biology and a very worthwhile read if you like that kind of thing. There is plenty of real science, but not so much math. The authors make their case for how the thermodynamics of chemistry interact with the weirdness of quantum mechanics.

 

[Smellincoffee]

I'm reading the Narnia series for the first time.

 

[Arakhor]

I've been reading some of Christian Jacq's output, who is a French author and Egyptologist.

 

[Flying Pig]

Finished the third of Eric Hobsbawm's 19th-century books (The Age of Empire). Unfortunately, I've read the first but not the second, and it referenced the second often enough that I now feel I have to read it!

 

[Agent327]

He does do a lot of shameless selfreferencing. But I'm sure you'll find it an equally interesting read.

 

[ParkCungHee]

Reading two books right now.

Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II by John Dower. Very interesting stuff. Very good having notions of 'Japanese' oddities like the strength of their technocrats put into the context of the American Occupation.

The second is The Secret of the Rosary by Saint Louis de Montfort. Very simple, direct language. Sounds and reads like it was written yesterday.