Theory to read?

[zapatista]

Hi guys, I'm a 16 year old Marxist, but I'm the first to admit, I'm yet to get much of a handle on things. Would anybody out there be able to suggest some good reading for me?
Cheers, Zapatista

[Tatarin]

Check out the library: www.marxists.org (http://www.marxists.org)

[KC]

Edit

[A.R.Amistad]

I'd look for an annotated version of Marx's works if you are having trouble. I don't like the ISO, but Haymarket has a good one thats easy to understand. Also, try out Marx for Begginers, by Ruis, a great and lighthearted illustrated book that describes Marxism in its full form in the simplest of terms. Although some are going to say not to read this yet, I think you should read Lenin's The State and Revolution as well as his last testaments on Marxists.org. Marxists.org is just fuckin awesome so I constantly go there. Oh yes, for some Red fiction, try Jack London's The Iron Heel, admittedly a bit dry at first but it gets good as you read on. I'd also recommend reading the works of C.L.R. James. His works are for the most part short and sweet and he gets straight to the point about what its all about. No frills, no confusing language. If you want some anti-Stalinism, I'd avoid The Revolution Betrayed unless you have a really good handle on modern Russian history. Try Trotsky's The Stalin School of Falsification. Also, I think everyone needs to read his pamphlet If America should go Communist.

[zapatista]

Thanks for the tips. Yeah, I just finished Revolution Betrayed, it took me a while as I had to look up a lot of stuff I didn't understand, but I got quite a fair bit out of it.

[scarletghoul]

The Manifesto is a goodun if you haven't already read it. http://marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ch01.htm#007
The Red Book is worth reading too for a beginners intro to Maoism http://marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/red-book/index.htm
For a nice short intro to Marxist economics, try reading http://www.revleft.com/vb/marx-39-s-t41211/index.html

[A.R.Amistad]

Like I said, try Stalin School of Falsification. Its not only easier to relate to, but its more updated and relates to the communist movement on a world scale, not just how Stalinism has hurt the workers' movement in Russia. :)


The Red Book is worth reading too for a beginners intro to Maoism http://marxists.org/reference/archiv...book/index.htm (http://www.anonym.to/?http://marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/red-book/index.htm)

Yeah the Red Book is about as good to Marxism as the Holy Bible. That is, after all, how it basically used. As a religious text.

[KC]

Edit

[OriginalGumby]

I'm from the disliked ISO which publishes Haymarket Books

Meaning of Marxism from Haymarket Books
Excellent introduction to a lot of things Marxist
http://www.haymarketbooks.org/product_info.php?products_id=1604

Summery of Ten Socialist Classics and links to the books on SocialistWorker.org
Recommend our annotated version of the Communist Manifesto
Will have an annotated version of State and Revolution out later on sometime.
http://socialistworker.org/series/ten-socialist-classics

[scarletghoul]

The red book is absolutely terrible. I don't even know how one can "read" that. It's just stupid quotes.
what is it you dislike about it

[KC]

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[Rjevan]

Our Reading List for Beginners (http://www.revleft.com/vb/reading-list-beginners-t112763/index.html) might be helpful, generally you should really read the Manifesto if you haven't done that already and I would also recommend Wage Labour and Capital (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/wage-labour/index.htm) by Marx and The State and Revolution (http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/staterev/) by Lenin.

[F9]

You are a marxist as you said, but there are lots of other different ideologies coming after that.I shall advice you read all of them, add Anarchism to your read list, Trotskyism, Stalinism-Hoxhaism-Antirevisionism(or whatever other label you want give it), Left communism etc etc.When you know what all those are, you will really be able to stand behind your "choice" and ideology.By studying your oppositions, it gets you to know your ideology better.So my advice is to give an overal look to leftist theory, and not only!

Fuserg9:star:

[bailey_187]

Lenin - State and Revolution
Stalin - Foundations of Leninism (Alternatively, if you can find it cheap get Bruce Franklin - 'Essential Stalin')
You may not like Stalin but read his works before you pass judgement. Plus he is fairly easy to read in comparison to Trotsky, Marx and many more
Bob Avakian - Mao Tse-tung's immortal contributions
Avakian is quite strange but he gives a farily good overview of the ideas of Marx, Lenin and Mao

I could offer some more if you specify what areas specifically (if any) you are interested in

[scarletghoul]

See the post you quoted.
You didn't give a reason lol, you just said it was "terrible" and "stupid".

[ArrowLance]

Like I said, try Stalin School of Falsification. Its not only easier to relate to, but its more updated and relates to the communist movement on a world scale, not just how Stalinism has hurt the workers' movement in Russia. :)



Yeah the Red Book is about as good to Marxism as the Holy Bible. That is, after all, how it basically used. As a religious text.

Don't get sidetracked by these liberal Stalin haters. They won't even recognize the great achievements of the workers in the USSR. They just drone on about 'evil Stalin', 'GULAG', and 'mass murder'. Much of which is imagined or taken straight from the mouths of their bourgeois companions.

Read the Manifesto for sure, also Capital by Marx is great if a bit advance. The State and Revolution isn't too terribly difficult in my opinion and Lenin is a very good writer, entertaining at least. A good book that deals with some important topics, also by Lenin, is The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky.

If you are interested in 'the Stalin question' I could give you some pro-Stalin links to some reading that really helped me out. Just PM me and I can send them to you.

[Stranger Than Paradise]

The Conquest of Bread is the best book to introduce you to Anarchist Communism. Fields, Factories and Workshops Tomorrow is also good for economics, although it is a bit statistic heavy.