What Are You Reading V

[x359594]

I'm re-reading B.Traven's "Jungle Novels." his series of books that trace the origins of peasant revolution set in Chiapas, Mexico.

From Government (first in the series):

"The government was represented in the eastern district by don Casimiro Azcona. Like every other jefe politico, don Casimiro thought first of his own interests. He served his country not for his country's good, but in order to profit at its expense. He worked better on those terms and, above all, he lived better. If a man can earn no more as a servant of the State than he can by running a snack bar, there is no reason whatever why he should aspire to devote his energies to his country's service. "After he had taken care of himself, he thought of his family. Then came his intimate friends. These friends had helped him obtain his post and now he had to humor them so that they would let him keep it, at least until one of them decided the moment had come to take it for himself.

"Every member of his family to its remotest branches--nephews, cousins, brothers-in-law, uncles, brothers and their nephews, cousins, brothers-in-law, and sons -- all were taken care of. They were given jobs as tax collectors, postmasters, chiefs of police, justices of the peace for as long as he himself could hold his. For this reason they were all on his side, whatever he might do. He might steal to his heart's content -- provided always that when they in turn stole he did not order an inquiry into their conduct. Whatever they might do, lawfully or unlawfully, had to be right in his eyes."

[Proukunin]

I've just got done reading The Coming Insurrection by the Invisible Committee and now I am about to start reading Armed Joy by Alfred M. Bonanno.

Introduction

"This book was written in 1977 in the momentum of the revolutionary struggles taking place in Italy at the time, and that situation, now profoundly different, should be borne in mind when reading it today.

The revolutionary movement including the anarchist one was in a developing phase and anything seemed possible, even a generalisation of the armed clash.

But it was necessary to protect oneself from the danger of specialisation and militarisation that a restricted minority of militants intended to impose on the tens of thousands of comrades who were struggling with every possible means against repression and against the State’s attempt — rather weak to tell the truth — to reorganise the management of capital.

That was the situation in Italy, but something similar was taking place in Germany, France, Great Britain and elsewhere.

It seemed essential to prevent the many actions carried out against the men and structures of power by comrades each day from being drawn into the planned logic of an armed party such as the Red Brigades in Italy.

That is the spirit of the book. To show how a practice of liberation and destruction can come forth from a joyful logic of struggle, not a mortal, schematic rigidity within the pre-established canons of a directing group.

Some of these problems no longer exist. They have been solved by the hard lessons of history. The collapse of real socialism suddenly redimensioned the directing ambitions of Marxists of every tendency for good. On the other hand it has not extinguished, but possibly inflamed, the desire for freedom and anarchist communism that is spreading everywhere especially among the young generations, in many cases without having recourse to the traditional symbols of anarchism, its slogans and theories also considered with an understandable but not sharable gut refusal to be affected with ideology.

This book has become topical again, but in a different way. Not as a critique of a heavy monopolising structure that no longer exists, but because it can point out the potent capabilities of the individual on his or her road, with joy, to the destruction of all that which oppresses and regulates them.

Before ending I should mention that the book was ordered to be destroyed in Italy. The Italian Supreme Court ordered it to be burned. All the libraries who had a copy received a circular from the Home Ministry ordering its incineration. More than one librarian refused to burn the book, considering such a practice to be worthy of the Nazis or the Inquisition, but by law the volume cannot be consulted. For the same reason the book cannot be distributed legally in Italy and many comrades had copies confiscated during a vast wave of raids carried out for that purpose.

I was sentenced to eighteen months’ prison for writing this book."

Alfredo M. Bonanno Catania, 14 July 1993

[#FF0000]

I just finished Dune Messiah and have since been drifting from book to book until something catches my interest. Foundation and Empire hasn't done it yet, nor has Tales of a Dying Earth (i might skip to the second in the series, Eyes of the Overworld). I have Romance of the Three Kingdoms coming in the mail, though.

I want to read some good non-fiction though, I think. I have To Conquer Hell which is about the battle at the Meuse-Argonne, but it's a little light imo. I want a dry-as-fuck tome on the French Revolution or the Byzantines or Mughal India.

[Yuppie Grinder]

Crash by J.G. Ballard. It's wonderful.

[thriller]

Just finished The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. Really... interesting. I was glad that the version I had had many footnotes on Jesus and biblical themes, since I am quite unaware of them being an atheist. The satire of Russian life (especially the literary and theatrical circle) was awesome. Although I am still confused who the narrator is, I have a suspicion it is either the Master or Woland, but even then I don't know. I like how it portrayed Jesus as an enlightened thinker, rather than a divine spirit (but then again, due to the satire, maybe it's not). The thing I like about Bulgakov is right when you think you've figured out his argument or viewpoint he throws in a gigantic monkey wrench to fuck up your train of thought. Now I am starting Dr. Zhivago by Pasternak; never seen the movie, so I have no idea how it will be.

Sidenote: "Chapter 13: The Hero Appears" by The Lawrence Arms just started to play when I was typing this :D

[Hermes]

Picked up Blankets at the library, due to the suggestion of my English teacher. Also got Medieval Drama: An Anthology, which looks interesting.

[ed miliband]

ugggh medieval literature :(

i don't mind some of marie de france's lais tho

[Caj]

Finished Paul Mattick's Anti-Bolshevik Communism last night. I might start reading David Harvey's The Enigma of Capial today.

EDIT: Read the introductions to David Harvey's The Enigma of Capital and Chris Harman's Zombie Capitalism last night. I've also been periodically reading a selection or two from The Marx-Engels Reader. So I guess that's what I'm reading.

[La Comédie Noire]

Reading the Songs of Fire and Ice series right now. I'm on A Clash Of Kings.

I'm also reading the Wealth Of Nations, a somewhat less enthralling read, yet it allows me to see some of the thinking that influenced Marx.

[Franz Fanonipants]

rereading Blood Meridian still owns

"If God meant to interfere in the degeneracy of mankind would he not have done so by now? Wolves cull themselves, man. What other creature could? And is the race of man not more predacious yet? The way of the world is to bloom and to flower and die but in the affairs of men there is no waning and the noon of his expression signals the onset of night. His spirit is exhausted at the peak of its achievement. His meridian is at once his darkening and the evening of his day. He loves games? Let him play for stakes. This you see here, these ruins wondered at by tribes of savages, do you not think that this will be again? Aye. And again. With other people, with other sons."

- the devil literally

[Franz Fanonipants]

ugggh medieval literature :(

i don't mind some of marie de france's lais tho

wot troth

[lombas]

Adrian Murdoch, The Last Pagan: Julian the Apostate and the Death of the Ancient World

http://i43.tower.com/images/mm111584733/last-pagan-julian-apostate-death-ancient-world-adrian-murdoch-paperback-cover-art.jpg

Roger Crowley, Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the Center of the World

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KZxVxmfWsYo/SKNzeNstCqI/AAAAAAAAC74/iD2mu4F7SJs/s400/pic.jpg

[Hermes]

ugggh medieval literature :(

i don't mind some of marie de france's lais tho

I definitely prefer Renaissance literature, but the Medieval period isn't that bad. Some of the chronicles of the First Crusade are really good.

[NewLeft]

The Second Sex - Simone de Beauvoir

[Ostrinski]

About to start a novel by DL Rose called Shepherds of Terror which my grandfather recently got for me. It follows the lives and actions of various ETA (basque terrorist group) members.
http://cn1.kaboodle.com/img/b/0/0/19a/0/AAAAC4Y9dxQAAAAAAZoGpw/shepherds-of-terror-a-novel-also-available-in-paperback-from-amazon.jpg?v=1321125304000

[Os Cangaceiros]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KZxVxmfWsYo/SKNzeNstCqI/AAAAAAAAC74/iD2mu4F7SJs/s400/pic.jpg

The battle of Lepanto was one of my favorite levels on "Age of Empires" as a kid.

[Zukunftsmusik]

The Trial by Kafka

[godlessfilthycommiedog]

Terrorism and Communism by Trotsky and The Hunger Games...

[NewLeft]

The Trial by Kafka
I love this book and castle.

[Zukunftsmusik]

I love this book and castle.

well. I think I like it so far. But it's really strange. I mean, I can relate the paranoid feeling and the labyrinth-ish feeling to other books from modernism. But what stroke me as I started this book, was that it was written from a third person view. When other modernists use the first person view to illustrate how we think irrationally etc., this is something I can really relate to. But when it's written in third person, it's more difficult to say what's an analogy and what is meant literally. But that's the point though, I guess.

[Franz Fanonipants]

do you guys like borges?

[Zukunftsmusik]

do you guys like borges?

havent read him but i really really like McCarthy. will begin on Blood Meridian during easter I guess

[Franz Fanonipants]

havent read him but i really really like McCarthy. will begin on Blood Meridian during easter I guess

read borges check out his fictions it is noodly and crazy and makes your mind do gymnastics

[Zukunftsmusik]

read borges check out his fictions it is noodly and crazy and makes your mind do gymnastics

sounds good :lol:

did he write the puppets or something? or am i mixing him with someone else. If I remember correctly it's about some young people on one of them gets bitten in the penis

edit: d'oh, I think that was Llosa I was thinking about. Vargas Llosa. nvm

[godlessfilthycommiedog]

do you guys like borges?

Borges is AMAZING... I read Fictions, his short story collection, when I was 13 and I still reread it every once in a while :) the guy is incredible

[Hermes]

I'm not sure if this is the best place to ask, but does anyone know the name of a good history on Revolutionary France?

[Sixiang]

Reyita: The Life of a Black Cuban Woman in the Twentieth Century, by Maria De Los Reyes Castillo Bueno - Pretty self-explanatory title. It's an autobiography. Well, technically it's a Cuban genre of autobiography called "testamonio." Basically, this 90-something-year-old lady named Reyita was interviewed by her writer daughter who wrote down her mother's life story. It's very interesting. It's got lots of insight into Batista and revolutionary Cuba.

Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood, by Richard E. Kim - A novel I had to read for my introduction to East Asian history course. It's about a boy growing up in Japanese-occupied Korea. It's quite interesting. The title refers to the fact that the Japanse imperialist government was almost successful in completely eliminating the Korean language from the country by forcing all children to speak and study only Korean history and language in school, focing people to follow Japanese religious norms, banning all Korean-language newspapers and books from publication, and making everyone register under a new Japanese name. It's an interesting insight into what it's like to live under that sort of imperialism. The author based it all on his own experiences.

[NewLeft]

'The Spirit Level.' Has anyone read it? Is it worth it or is it a waste of time?

[Deicide]

Today I've ordered ''On the origin of Species'' and ''The Voyage of the Beagle: Charles Darwin's Journal of Researches'' by Charles Darwin. Looking forward to reading these books.

[lombas]

Today I've ordered ''On the origin of Species'' and ''The Voyage of the Beagle: Charles Darwin's Journal of Researches'' by Charles Darwin. Looking forward to reading these books.

Regretfully, they're quite boring. Better to read a book on evolution theory in general...

:)

Coincidentally I have been reading the Gospel of Matthew today.

[lombas]

I'm not sure if this is the best place to ask, but does anyone know the name of a good history on Revolutionary France?

You might start with a classic of Robert Darnton, The Forbidden Best-Sellers of Prerevolutionary France, to know where it all came from.

If you want a general introduction in the French Revolution itself, seen from above, try Eric Hobsbawm's The Age of Revolution: Europe: 1789–1848.

[Aloysius]

My reading list for the next year and a half: Finish The Wheel of Time (Reading [u]A Crown of Swords[u], now. A Song of Ice and Fire, Wheel of Time again (when the last book comes out), whatever's-popular-at-the-time.

[Deicide]

Regretfully, they're quite boring. Better to read a book on evolution theory in general...

I'm the sort of guy that will enjoy them, trust me.


Coincidentally I have been reading the Gospel of Matthew today.


haha :lol:

[Caj]

Today I've ordered ''On the origin of Species'' and ''The Voyage of the Beagle: Charles Darwin's Journal of Researches'' by Charles Darwin. Looking forward to reading these books.

What about The Descent of Man? That's a more interesting book in my opinion.

[Deicide]

What about The Descent of Man? That's a more interesting book in my opinion.

I'll order it.

[La Comédie Noire]

What I like about Borges is he has a profundity that's very subtle, at least for me, maybe it's more instantaneous with more mathematical minds, but he definitely got me into mathematics (something I would have thought impossible years ago). Usually I'd read a story of his and have to think on its strange implications, its definitely something to be savored in such a fashion.

[The Young Pioneer]

I love the artist/engraver Gustave Doré so I've got a goal of reading all the classics he took scenes from for his badass art.

For example:

http://www.alef.net/ALEFArtists/GustaveDore/TheDivineComedy/GustaveDore-Inferno08.Gif

Thus, at the moment I'm reading Paradise Lost and Orlando Furioso. Then I'll tackle Divine Comedy.

[The Jay]

What I like about Borges is he has a profundity that's very subtle, at least for me, maybe it's more instantaneous with more mathematical minds, but he definitely got me into mathematics (something I would have thought impossible years ago). Usually I'd read a story of his and have to think on its strange implications, its definitely something to be savored in such a fashion.

Could you give me an example of one of his books like that? They sound interesting.

[La Comédie Noire]

Could you give me an example of one of his books like that? They sound interesting.

His short story collection Ficciones is the best place to start.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficciones

[Thetwoterrors]

Just ordered "Rebel Cities" by David Harvey. It's supposed to be about workers resistance within the world's cities and the important social movements going on within them.

I'll let ya'll know how it reads when it comes in tomorrow.

[lombas]

I love the artist/engraver Gustave Doré so I've got a goal of reading all the classics he took scenes from for his badass art.

For example:

Thus, at the moment I'm reading Paradise Lost and Orlando Furioso. Then I'll tackle Divine Comedy.

If you want some musical background for Orlando, I can seriously recommend listening to Nicola Porpora's opera based on the story.

You might of course reach for Händel, though I appreciate him dearly, trying "something else" ain't too bad...

:)

[Rooster]

My copy of Rosa Luxembourg Speaks came through the door today so I'll hopefully start that soon after I finish up re-reading stuff that I haven't read for 20 years.

[Railyon]

Currently reading Capital Vol. 2 and I'll receive a copy of vol 25 of Lenin's collected works tomorrow, gonna read "State and Revolution" primarily.

[Caj]

My copy of Rosa Luxembourg Speaks came through the door today so I'll hopefully start that soon after I finish up re-reading stuff that I haven't read for 20 years.

That's a great collection.

[Rooster]

That's a great collection.

It seems to be a fairly good sized book. Do you know if it's chronological? Some selected works I have are ordered by topic. The copy I have is a little tired looking. It's sun bleached on the cover and on the inside someone has underlined the text (poorly) with a biro. But at least they seem to have managed to get through most of the book. Unlike some of the second hand ones I buy where they give up after the first couple of pages.

[Caj]

Do you know if it's chronological?

Yes, it is.


at least they seem to have managed to get through most of the book. Unlike some of the second hand ones I buy where they give up after the first couple of pages.

That always bothers me as well when I purchase used books.

[Zukunftsmusik]

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

[TheGodlessUtopian]

"Embassytown" by China Mieville

[RedSonRising]

The Dark Tower series, by Stephen King. Great so far.

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

Finished "Three Components of Marxism" Lenin, about to finish "Quotations of Mao Zedong" and am looking to read "Historical Capitalism with Capitalist Civilisation" Immanuel Wallerstein, "Through Hell for Hitler" Heinrich Mellmann, "Fascism" Trotsky, "Capitalism and Class Struggle in U.S.S.R.: A Marxist Theory" Neil Fernandez and a few more collected economic essays to read.

[x359594]

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

It's harsh and uncompromising in its depiction of the Old West. Excellent book.

[The Jay]

Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell is what I'm reading now. I'm half way through and only bought it yesterday.

[No_Leaders]

Anyone here read 'The Iron Heel' by Jack London? and if so is it any good? I've been thinking of obtaining a copy once i'm done with what i'm currently reading.

At this moment i am reading 'The Red Army Faction, a Documentary History Volume 1: Projectiles For the People' Very goood read, i'm halfway through it. It has all the communiques the RAF released.

[x359594]

Anyone here read 'The Iron Heel' by Jack London? and if so is it any good?...

It's a classic of socialist literature, very readable.

[00001]

'Our Lady of the Flowers'. It's got drag queens and masturbation... what more do you really need?

[00001]

do you guys like borges?

I tried reading him a few weeks ago... 'The Aleph and Other Stories'. I like his style of writing, but I thought the stories themselves left something to be desired.

[seventeethdecember2016]

Inferno by Dante Alighieri

[The Young Pioneer]

'Bout halfway through The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World by Elaine Scarry.

Gets all philosophical about torture and even has a chapter about Marx implementing bodily comparisons to the material in his writings, complete with passages and dissections of some of Marx's best. I recommend.

[Ostrinski]

Anyone here read 'The Iron Heel' by Jack London? and if so is it any good? I've been thinking of obtaining a copy once i'm done with what i'm currently reading.My favorite book of all time.

[kashkin]

The Road to Berlin by John Erickson. A frank and extensive coverage of the Eastern front of WWII from the Operation Uranus to Berlin.

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

Well, i just finished this book "Through Hell for Hitler". To me it is probably the most indescribable book i've ever read. It's about Henry Metelmann, a workers' son born in Hamburg Germany in 1922. He is sucked into the Fascist system throught he Hitler Youth as a boy and becomes a fascist soldier invading the USSR. This book is not your normal war story book, it is rather an analysis of his psyche between the fighting through his encounters with the russian people and his kamaraden. I would say it is a marxist book. It is about his fascist indoctrination slowly being torn at during his encounters in war. It's amazing, i've never read anything like it.

[00001]

Most of you people are boring as fuck, no offense.

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

Through hell for hitler

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2446178.Through_Hell_for_Hitler

[escapingNihilism]

Eric Hobsbawm - How to Change the World: Reflections on Marx and Marxism
David Harvey - A Brief History of Neoliberalism

Emile Zola - Germinal

[x359594]

...David Harvey - A Brief History of Neoliberalism...

Excellent book, very concise.

[escapingNihilism]

yeah I had a bit of a disagreement with my Sociology of Capitalism professor - I argued that he should have assigned that book instead of the two readings who chose: the first a decent, though I would argue a bit irrelevant to neoliberalism proper, article arguing for a social constructivist conception of markets; and a non-scholarly article by Fred Block against 'market fundamentalism', but which openly takes the position that we should do nothing to harm the Democrats chances in 2004 [when it was written]... basically, the sort of left-liberal stuff I can't stand, laden with imperialist impulses that the author himself probably cannot see.

my professor takes issue with Harvey's lumping-in of the PRC with the rest of neoliberalization. I'm only up to chapter five, which is the chapter on China, so I'll see what I think.

[BE_]

Just finished Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.

[Valdyr]

Science of Logic by Hegel, with Lenin's Conspectus as a supplement.
Marxism and the USA by Alan Woods
Left-Wing Communism: A Infantile Disorder by Lenin (re-read for a reading group)
Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right by Marx

[Rocky Rococo]

I preferred Borges Labyrinths to Ficciones. For the person who raised the question about the "mathematical" character of Borges, the short story in Labyrinths named "The Garden of Forking Paths" is a wonderful example in that it blends the short story form and something resembling a mathematical proof.

I'm currently reading the new biography by John Matteson, The Lives of Margaret Fuller.

[Franz Fanonipants]

It's harsh and uncompromising in its depiction of the Old West. Excellent book.

the thing is it is fictionalized to a big extent.

it might be partially based on a historical source (I wouldn't call Confession of a Rogue a primary source) but it is a work of fiction.

of course fiction can tell historical truth very well sometimes. i just would be very careful how much you generalize the specifics of blood meridian.

[Franz Fanonipants]

anyway that said im reading back over changes in the land by bill cronon to prepare for my thesis proposal defense next week

its a sequent history of the ecosystems and land use in pre-and-post colonial new england it owns and is pretty fundamental in environmental history. bill cronon is a strong motherfucker.

[00001]

'Our Lady of the Flowers'. It's got drag queens and masturbation... what more do you really need?

I have finished this, by the way. It was pretty good.

[ed miliband]

my dad read that the other year, found it misplaced in the religious section of a local charity shop

[00001]

...placed in the religious section of a local charity shop

:lol: priceless

[-NW2-]

Eric Hobsbawm - How to Change the World: Reflections on Marx and Marxism
David Harvey - A Brief History of Neoliberalism

Emile Zola - Germinal

Just reading Hobsbawm's How to Change the World: Tales of Marx and Marxism.

Very interesting read. However, the title is a bit misleading! Its essentially a collection of essays. From the politics of Marx and Engels to the details of how The Communist Manifesto was received at the time of writing and after to a chapter on Gramsci.

Im currently on the penultimate essay, 'The Influence of Marxism 1945-83' and unless the it all becomes clear in the last chapter (Marxism in recession 1983-2000), I dont understand why the book is called 'How to Change the World'. Unless he means that Marx himself has changed the world and the essays explain how?

Not taking away from the book itself though, very good read as usual from Eric Hobsbawm. A good interview with him on BBC radio 4 recently.
I cant post links yet but it's available on Iplayer

[x359594]

...i just would be very careful how much you generalize the specifics of blood meridian.

I should have clarified my comment by saying that I was referring to the fictional Old West that's depicted in the works of Zane Gray, Owen Wister, Elmore Leonard et al.

For a non-fiction account Richard Drinnon's Facing West is an excellent starting place.

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

I'm really into North: The Endurance Expedition by Sir Ernest Shackleton, at the moment. As well as What Is Property? by Proudhon and Simon and Schuster's Guide to Cacti and Succulents.

[Brosip Tito]

I picked up "Rosa Luxemburg" by Paul Frolich the other day, it is fascinating. I haven't finished it yet, but I find it to be very good. After reading Tony Cliff's piece on her, and just researching her, I feel I am learning about one of the most important, and underrated figures in Marxist theory and history. So I picked the book up, and I love it.

I've always considered myself as a non-tendency type, but I have been identifying with Rosa Luxemburg, and her personality and writing style is just amazing. I've been agreeing with her ideas, and I've found that I am referring to myself as a Luxemburgist since I started reading Frolich's work, hence the tendency I have now in my profile.

Has anyone else read this? It put's her ideas into context, and gives a good idea of her and why she thought the way she did, and how she was, indeed, correct.

[Princess Luna]

flowers for algernon

[BE_]

I'm reading Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut.

[Sentinel]

I'm reading the Trotsky biography by Pierre Broue simultaneously with Hero of Rome by Douglas Jackson. Both are very exciting indeed.

[Rooster]

I'm reading Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut.

Vonnegut is probably my favourite author but his books are just so depressing.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

I picked up "Rosa Luxemburg" by Paul Frolich the other day, it is fascinating. I haven't finished it yet, but I find it to be very good. After reading Tony Cliff's piece on her, and just researching her, I feel I am learning about one of the most important, and underrated figures in Marxist theory and history. So I picked the book up, and I love it.

I've always considered myself as a non-tendency type, but I have been identifying with Rosa Luxemburg, and her personality and writing style is just amazing. I've been agreeing with her ideas, and I've found that I am referring to myself as a Luxemburgist since I started reading Frolich's work, hence the tendency I have now in my profile.

Has anyone else read this? It put's her ideas into context, and gives a good idea of her and why she thought the way she did, and how she was, indeed, correct.
It is indeed a fantastic book. It really helps you learn Luxemburg as a person and as a theorist. One of my favorite biographies I have on my shelf.
She really is Marxism's underrated character. And I think Frolich said it best that she is the ideological heir to Marx & Engels.

[smellincoffee]

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. I'm two chapters in and angry enough that I'd vow never to approach one of those joints again, if I hadn't already stopped eating at them over a year ago for health reasons.

[o well this is ok I guess]

Vonnegut is probably my favourite author but his books are just so depressing. There's plenty of guys more depressing than Vonnegut, man.

[NewLeft]

http://libcom.org/library/change-world-without-taking-power-john-holloway

[Caj]

I'm reading Marx's Capital and started Bertrand Russell's Proposed Roads to Freedom today. The latter is awful.

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

What I will be reading for the next couple weeks:

-The Russian Revolution 1917: Eyewitness Account by N. N. Sukhanov.
-Twentieth Century Russia by Donald W. Treadgold.
-Royal Charles: Charles II and the Restoration by Antonia Fraser.
-The Potemkin Mutiny by Richard Hough.
-Soviet Union: A Country Study by Area Handbook Series.
-The Dream King: Ludwig II of Bavaria Wilfrid Blunt.
-Kings, Courts, and Monarchy by Harold Nicolson.
-The State: It's Historical Role by Pyotr Kropotkin.

[bcbm]

'the richer sex: how the new majority of female breadwinners is transforming sex, love and family' by liza mundy

[Brosa Luxemburg]

Just finished the first chapter of capital.

[the last donut of the night]

beowulf

so epic

[BE_]

I'm probably going to start reading The Hobbit. Surprisingly, I have never read it.

[WanderingCactus]

I'm probably going to start reading The Hobbit. Surprisingly, I have never read it.
Same here, until a few weeks ago.

Fun read, but I guess I don't really need to be its advocate.

[NewLeft]

- leftist for hayek was a challenging read, but overall i still dont get the author's market socialism (nor do i find it convincing..). a little too much bourgeois economics for me.. never took an econ course in my life, so lots of crash learning inbetween.
- im still at the beginning of second sex, but i'll be writing my french 'thesis' (not an actual one lol, im still in high school) on it
- im slowly understanding capital vol. 1, chapters 1-3 i've read about 5 times and i still haven't got the hang of it entirely.. lots of rereading.. every sentence is important to understand! no skimming! i read chapters of vol 2 and 3.. and man, its actually not that bad compared to chapters 1-3 in vol 1
- im reading 'paris peasant' for fun
- reading sartre 'le mur' in french too
- ill get back to john holloway once im done

[NewLeft]

has anyone read Rebel Lives: Louise Michel? I have a free book download, I might use it on that. I probably should stop reading so many leftist books lol

[Luc]

'the richer sex: how the new majority of female breadwinners is transforming sex, love and family' by liza mundy

how is it? my public library has yet to order it so I can't get it :(

[Left Leanings]

Our Flag Stays Red by Phil Piratin.

Phil Piratin was the Communist MP for Stepney (Mile End) from 1945 to 1950. The book was first published in 1948. This is a copy of the new edition, with a preface by the author from 1978.

Piratin gives an account of his work among the working class at grassroots level, and how he assisted them in their fightback against slum landlords, and the fash.

It covers the events of 1936, and the 'Battle of Cable Street', where workers took on, and halted the progress of Mosley and the Blackshirts.

Also included is the great Rent Strikes, and the invasion and occupation of the elitist Savoy Hotel in 1940.

I've only just started it, but it's a well good read already. When landlords wanted tenants out for not paying extortionate rent, the workers set up barricades, and carefully vetted who went in and out. Only tenants and peeps who were known, and as business being there, were granted access.

[The Jay]

I've just finished Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell. It's one of my favorites now. I'm also reading Capital by Marx and just started First as Tragedy, Then as Farce by Zizek. There's one problem though, I read in Zizek's voice from watching too many of his speeches.

[thriller]

Just finished "Dr Zhivago" by Pasternak. He writes absolutely beautifully, but the story itself was somewhat lacking for me. Halfway through "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" by Solzhenitsyn. Pretty good actually.

[bcbm]

'the ultimate wine companion: the complete guide to understanding wine' edited by kevin zraly


how is it? my public library has yet to order it so I can't get it :(

its good, really interesting. does your library do inter-library loans? might look into that.

[Lorenzo]

I'm halfway through Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. At first I found it confusing, but after a while I realized what a great novel it is.

[thriller]

Just finished One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Solzhenitsyn. Was pretty damn good. Read it in two days, could not put it down. Going to pick up Moscow to the End of the Line by Venedikt Yerofeyev.

[Spartacist1917]

The entirety of Paradise Lost for an English literature intro course...

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

Just finished One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Solzhenitsyn. Was pretty damn good. Read it in two days, could not put it down. Going to pick up Moscow to the End of the Line by Venedikt Yerofeyev.

Solzhenitsyn is a fascist piece of shit. Just saying, he wanted the US to stay in Vietnam, and he held a speech before the US Congress to invade Portugal at the anti-fascist revolution in 1974, and he was giving speeches to radio at how horrible the end of Franco's dictatorship was.

At least he got to spend a bit of time in GULAG...

[seventeethdecember2016]

On the Nature of Things by Lucretius

[Ostrinski]

Reading Ten Days That Shook the World off of my new kindle touch. Loving this thing.

[Magón]

I'm 2/3rds of the way finished with the book, Q. Got it off a friend who recommended it. Obviously being 2/3rds done, I can say it's been entertaining and catching enough.

[thriller]

Solzhenitsyn is a fascist piece of shit. Just saying, he wanted the US to stay in Vietnam, and he held a speech before the US Congress to invade Portugal at the anti-fascist revolution in 1974, and he was giving speeches to radio at how horrible the end of Franco's dictatorship was.

At least he got to spend a bit of time in GULAG...

Wagner was an anti-Semitic asshole, but does that mean his musical influence was dismal and uninventive? I am in 20th century Russian lit, I don't choose the books. And it's still a good book, regardless of the authors own beliefs.

[Luc]

On the last part of Granny Made me an Anarchist by Stuart Christie, didn't really like it kinda forcing myself to finish it :sleep: but I got some interesting reads when they were passivley mentioned and from the list at the back :)


edit: nevermind it got alot better and I'm learning alot more it's great :) I recomend for anyone that wants to learn about Propaganda by the Deed


Also, going to start reading Errico Malatesta: The Biography of an Anarchist (http://theanarchistlibrary.org/HTML/Max_Nettlau__Errico_Malatesta___The_Biography_of_a n_Anarchist.html) by Max Nettlau, stumbled upon it when I was picking up some Max Stirner never found a Malatesta bio before :)

[thriller]

Just finished "Moscow to the End of the Line" (Moscow-Patushki) by Erofeev. It was like reading about a completely shitfaced Raskolnikov riding the trains as written by Gogol. I think I'll keep it and read a second time wasted. Either way, a damn good book. Now I am taking a break from reading for a while.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

Solzhenitsyn is a fascist piece of shit. Just saying, he wanted the US to stay in Vietnam, and he held a speech before the US Congress to invade Portugal at the anti-fascist revolution in 1974, and he was giving speeches to radio at how horrible the end of Franco's dictatorship was.

At least he got to spend a bit of time in GULAG...

He was a piece of shit but that doesn't mean he was a bad writer. I also enjoyed a day in the life. One doesn't need to be a communist to be a skilled writer, I can think of dozens of reactionaries who still wrote excellent stories, Celine, Mishima, Borges, etc.

[Zav]

Our Word is Our Weapon, by Subcomandante Marcos. He really knows what he's talking about.

[bcbm]

'sex at dawn: the prehistoric origins of modern sexuality' by christopher ryan and cacilda jetha. this book is really good and completely demolishes the nuclear family and monogamy as 'normal' for human beings. good stuff

[BE_]

I just finished The Hobbit, and I must say, it was pretty good. I have the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy, so that means I must start on the Fellowship of the Ring.

[Dr Doom]

'house of the dead' by dostoyevsky. man i love dostoyevsky.

[thriller]

'house of the dead' by dostoyevsky. man i love dostoyevsky.

Any other works you've read by him? I've read Crime and Punishment and The Grand Inquisitor prolly going to pick up The Brothers Karamazov soon.

[Permanent Revolutionary]

"Tey sóu reytt" (Transl: They saw red)
A history of the Faroese radical left-wing from 1962-1990.
http://issuu.com/sprotin/docs/teysoureytt_brot

A pretty interesting read, as the history of the Faroese socialist-movement has been a taboo topic since the wall fell.

[Deicide]

Any other works you've read by him? I've read Crime and Punishment and The Grand Inquisitor prolly going to pick up The Brothers Karamazov soon.

All his books are available on the internet in pdf format.

I'm reading the second book from the 'A song of ice and fire' series.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

I'm reading Man's Fate by Andre Malraux. I'm enjoying it but it seems like the translation is a little mangled. Wish I could read French.

[Princess Luna]

The Killer Inside Me

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

I'm reading Mother by Gorky and
Another view of Stalin by Ludo Martens.

[Deicide]

I'm reading a collection of Warren Buffet's essays entitled ''lessons for corporate America''.

[Anarcho-Brocialist]

Anton Pannekoek : Workers' Council
Rosa Luxembourg : Reform or Revolution

[Sixiang]

Since my last post, I've finished reading the following books:

Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America, by John Charles Chasteen - It's a pretty self-explanatory book. It's an easy read a nice introduction to the region. The author is clearly liberally biased, but once you get past that, he is pretty good at providing a nice overview if you don't know anything about Latin America like I did. It focuses on the 19th and 20th centuries. It is critical of basically every single government that has ever existed in Latin America (the Spanish and Portuguese empires, the early liberal governments, the neocolonial governments, the revolutionary marxist and leftist governments, the reactionary military juntas, the oligarchies, all of them). He focuses a lot on culture because that' what he researches and studies.

Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Energy and Society, by Thomas Easton - I had to read it for a biodiversity, conservation, and development class. Man it was boring as hell and all the arguments were so pathetically fallacious it was just frustrating to read. Only the nuclear power stuff was on interest to me.

A Home on the Field, by Paul Cuadros - I had to read this for my Modern Latin American history class. It's about how this guy goes to a small town in North Carolina and starts and coaches a championship soccer team composed mostly of Mexicans. He gets into the problems that Mexican-American immigrants have coming to the U.S. and he talks about this "silent migration" to small towns recently. Basically, Latin Americans aren't just staying in LA, Chicago, Austin, and New York anymore. They are indeed becoming a major part of U.S. society across the board.

East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History, by Patricia Ebrey, Anne Walthall, and James Palais - I had to read this textbook for my introduction to East Asian history class. It is a wonderful introduction to Korean, Chinese, and Japanese history dating back all the way to ancient times up to the present day. It is very thorough and in-depth, showing you all the inner workings of all the different states that existed in the region's history. It is a rare gem in that it actually takes the most neutral and fair stance towards the labor, anarchist, socialist, and communist movements, parties, and states in the region. It is the closest I've ever seen to a truly objective history of East Asia by Western authors. I recommend it if you aren't too familiar with Korean, Chinese, and Japanese history and want an introduction to the whole span of their histories.

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, by Eric Schlosser - A really interesting and enjoyable book. He writes from a reformist liberal (maybe pseudo social-democratic) perspective, but he inadvertently gives proof of the Marxist-Leninist critiques of monopoly capital and shows the absolutely destructive nature of capitalism to nature, workers, society, culture, and health.

Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character, by Jonathan Shay - I had to read it for a class. It wasn't that interesting to me. It's definitely a psychological science book. He mostly criticizes how veterans are treated in the U.S. today for PTSD. He mentions at one point his full support of the U.S.'s involvement in the Gulf War and offers suggestions for better military tactics. At some points, I found him slightly fascistic. He never at any point criticizes U.S. involvement in Vietnam, but instead just criticizes how the military was organized and functioned. Not my cup of tea.

[the last donut of the night]

"pedagogy of the opressed", by paulo freire. highly recommend it

"the question of cultural identity", stuart hall.

looking to get into some nietzsche soon

[Aloysius]

Finally reading Inheritance by Christopher Paolini. I had nothing better to do, but that's because my school doesn't have the ninth Wheel of Time book (Winter's Heart). Reading part of Marx's Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts from 1844 for a school assignment.

[Brosip Tito]

Still reading "Luxemburg" by Frolich. Had to put it down for a few weeks because of work and school.

I'm going to pick up "Why Marx was Right" by Eagleton or something by David Harvey after I leave work today.

So...yeah...

[Jesus Saves Gretzky Scores]

The Conquest of Bread, and Anarchism and Other Essays. Conquest is a really helpful, but Anarchism is hard to read.

[x359594]

The Spanish Holocaust by Paul Preston. Preston is the preeminent historian of the Spanish Civil War and this 700 page book is a history of Franco's repression during and after the Civil War. It makes for difficult reading, not because of the prose style but because of the horrific subject matter.

[Sixiang]

I just recently read these two.

The Unknown Cultural Revolution: Life and Change in a Chinese Village, by Dongping Han - A phenomenal book. He goes into the details of how economic policies have been implemented and changed in this rural area in Shandong province, China since the revolution. He basically debunks all the claims of the Deng government and beyond that the cultural revolution was a period of complete economic downturn. Actually, he shows, productive output was steadily and constantly rising throughout the cultural revolution except for a few drought years. He also shows how the cultural revolution empowered agricultural workers by giving them jobs, education, equality of sexes, and democracy.

The Battle for China's Past: Mao and the Cultural Revolution, by Mobo Gao - Another great book on the cultural revolution. He really debunks all these common Western attacks that Mao was some bloodthirsty dictator by going through the scholarly and logical fallacies and outright lies and fiction found in Western biographies of Mao and books on the cultural revolution. He also describes and challenges the current evaluation of Mao and the cultural revolution by the Chinese government.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Finished "Thirty Years in A Red House:A Memoir of Childhood and Youth in Communist China" by Zhu Xiao Di.

Though the book was riddled with painful bourgeois moralism and ignorance, it was over all an fascinating account of one youth's early years in china.Once past the opinion it is a great read into the imperfect aspects of the immediate history of china.

Will soon begin re-reading Lenin's State and Revolution once I return from my Youth Occupy Gathering.

[bcbm]

'leeches: a novel' by david albahari

[Raúl Duke]

Is almost everyone here putting political books? (EDIT: After reading the other pages in this thread...I realized that not everyone is. Good, I like to read stories and novels.)

Recently, I read a few novels from Haruki Murakami (so far, I prefer the Wind-Up Bird Chronicles) and read "John Dies in the End."

[Robespierres Neck]

I'm reading a lot right now. I've been mainly focused on The Trail of Socrates and poetry by Shelley & Loy.

[smellincoffee]

Recently finished Suburban Nation (fantastic). Now reading Why We Get Sick: the new Science of Darwinian Medicine.

[Permanent Revolutionary]

The Revolution Betrayed

[ed miliband]

The Spanish Holocaust by Paul Preston. Preston is the preeminent historian of the Spanish Civil War and this 700 page book is a history of Franco's repression during and after the Civil War. It makes for difficult reading, not because of the prose style but because of the horrific subject matter.

doesn't he also suggest anarchists were guilty of mass slaughter in the same book?

[Le Penseur Libre]

The Complete Story of the Legendary Terrorist Carlos the Jackal

I am almost done and I would recommend to anyone

[#FF0000]

Grant Morrison's run of Animal Man, from issues 1-26.

Seriously great. There's a lot going on and Morrison really does a good job of making Animal Man (and superheroes in general) very human.

[Comrades Unite!]

Capital by Karl Marx

[Princess Luna]

My summer reading list

Journal of the Plague Year
The Black Death
Plagues and People
Inquisition: The Reign of Fear
Story of the Eye
120 Days of Sodom
Why I am not a Christian, by Bertrand Russell

As you can see, it's a very family friendly list

[corolla]

http://www.preboundbooks.com/ws/image/cover/3603684/m?ref=vd

[theinsurgent]

Was in the middle of Durutti and the Spanish Revolution by Abel Paz, but I got bored with it and put it down; its not bad, just kind of tilted. I'm in the middle of Chomsky on Anarchism, which is really good.

[Ele'ill]

I'm 3/4 through the latest book in a song of ice and fire series

[The Jay]

I'm 3/4 through The Coming Insurrection and 1/3 through Zinn's A Power Governments Cannot Suppress. They complement each other pretty well.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

I'm trying to read Kapital.
Any tips?

[corolla]

Any tips?
http://www.preboundbooks.com/ws/image/cover/3603684/m?ref=vd

[The Young Pioneer]

Just finished "Moscow to the End of the Line" (Moscow-Patushki) by Erofeev. It was like reading about a completely shitfaced Raskolnikov riding the trains as written by Gogol. I think I'll keep it and read a second time wasted. Either way, a damn good book. Now I am taking a break from reading for a while.

My God, I must read this.


!thriller! and Dr Doom- Glad to hear there are some other Dostoevsky fans here. He's my all time fave, and Memoirs from the House of the Dead is one of his absolute BEST. It's my goal to read all his works. I've just started Idiot and plan to read Poor Folk afterward.

May I also recommend:

-Crocodile
-Village of Stepanchikovo and Its Inhabitants (Foma is one of the most unique characters in all of literature, really)
-Dream of a Ridiculous Man
-Notes from Underground
-(Crime and Punishment ofc)

The ones I didn't enjoy as much were Brothers Karamazov and White Nights.

[Nikolay]

Going to start reading "An Anarchist FAQ V.1" and will get V.2 in November. :)
Also going to try and read "Conquest of Bread" and "ABC of Anarchism" and the "Communist Manifesto" (by Penguin Classics). I got a lot of good reading ahead of me.

I have given up on Das Kapital and Grundrisse. They're are just too dense. And Anarchist books and ideology just seem so much easier to understand. xD

[Sixiang]

Just finished reading And Mao Makes 5: Mao Tsetung's Last Great Battle, edited by Raymond Lotta. It was put together in 1978 right after the Deng government really had consolidated full power in China. It is a collection of newspaper, journal, and magazine articles, government documents, and speeches made during the tumultuous 1972-1977 period of battle between the leftists (led by Mao and the Gang of Four) and the rightists (led by Deng Xiaoping, Hao Guofeng, and Zhou Enlai) for power in the CCP. It shows in a lot of ways how the rightists instilled a coup to take power (they had the support of some PLA generals, while the left had control of the media) and that indeed Mao supported the gang of four, not the rightists who ended up taking power and claiming they had Mao's blessings. It also clearly shows how Deng and company were capitalist roader revisionists, more concerned with national sovereignty and "modernization" than with class struggle or building socialism.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

Leningrad- Anna Reid
Homage to Catalonia- George Orwell
Russia - Martin Sixsmith
Anarchism or Socialsm - Stalin
that's about it for the next week or so :).

[Rooster]

Now that I have some free time, I'm going to start re-reading some stuff; Capital, The German Ideology, The Class Struggles in France, The Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts, The Poverty of Philosophy, maybe Theories of Surplus Value and a bunch of Engels that I don't think I managed to get through the first time around. I'll hopefully start collecting the Marx/Engels Collected Works at some point. 50, volumes, man, although I might be able to miss some because I already own most of the texts. Just hope I can find space for it.

[Brosip Tito]

Why Marx Was Right - Terry Eagleton

When I'm done that, I'm going to pick up The Enigma of Captial and The Crises of Capitalism - David Harvey.

From there, some Kafka (particularly The Trial), rereading Marx, Engels, Luxemburg, some Lenin. Maybe I'll even pick up the Game of Thrones series.

[Rooster]

I just got The Call of Cthulhu and other Weird Tales. So far it seems pretty good although I was kind of surprised at the name of his cat in The Rats in the Walls. Plus, the book has a groovy 3D cover with those red/cyan glasses.

[Brosa Luxemburg]

I'm trying to read Kapital.
Any tips?

http://davidharvey.org/reading-capital/

Very helpful, very good.

I am actually in the process of reading Capital as well. It should be essential reading for any Marxist.

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0750930772/ref=redir_mdp_mobile
Short, but ok. Fuck any Albanian leader that isn't HOXHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

[WanderingCactus]

I just got The Call of Cthulhu and other Weird Tales. So far it seems pretty good although I was kind of surprised at the name of his cat in The Rats in the Walls. Plus, the book has a groovy 3D cover with those red/cyan glasses.

Yeah, the cat is off-putting. HP Lovecraft is my favorite author of fiction though. Does it have The Colour Out of Space? That's my favorite by Lovecraft.

[The Jay]

I just got The Call of Cthulhu and other Weird Tales. So far it seems pretty good although I was kind of surprised at the name of his cat in The Rats in the Walls. Plus, the book has a groovy 3D cover with those red/cyan glasses.

I'm a massive Lovecraft fan. If you get the chance read Into the Mountains of Madness.

[x359594]

I just got The Call of Cthulhu and other Weird Tales...

If this is the edition edited and introduced by S. T. Joshi then all Lovecraft fans should check it out.

Joshi is the foremost Lovecraft scholar in the world, and he's responsible for finding the correct texts of nearly all of Lovecraft's stories; since the publication of The Outsider and Others in 1939 all of the stories have been textually compromised until Arkham House published Joshi's corrected editions in the mid 1980s.

Since then Joshi has made further restorations, and the Penguin editions are now the most accurate, superseding all previous issues. They also have the benefit of Joshi's cogent introductions and notes.

[Valdyr]

The Communist Hypothesis by Alain Badiou
Being and Event by Alain Badiou
Alain Badiou by Ed Pluth (as a study supplement for the first two)

[Arthur Seaton]

Reading once again Oscar Wilde's "Soul of Man under Socialism", one of the best arguments for libertarian socialism ever written.

[Regicollis]

I just finished Orwell's Down And Out In London And Paris about his own experiences with poverty, exploitation and charity. Like the rest of his writings the language is engaging, clear and elegant and his analysis' and observations razor-sharp.

I've now started the novel Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts.

[Ilyich]

Jack Reed's Ten Days That Shook the World (1919) and The United States Constitution: 200 Years of Anti-Federalist, Abolitionist, Feminist, Muckraking, Progressive, and Especially Socialist Criticism (1990), edited by Bertell Ollman and Jonathan Birnbaum

[Caj]

What Is to Be Done? and How the Soviets Work.

[bcbm]

'black flame: the revolutionary class politics of anarchism and syndicalism' by lucien van der walt and michael schmidt


....yeah i read leftist stuff every now and then:closedeyes:

[Princess Luna]

I am taking an Ethnic Literature class this summer, and was surprised to see one the required books was Maus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maus) which I have been meaning to read for a while but had never gotten around to

[Deicide]

Stalin by Isaac Deutscher. I'm currently on page 74 out of 615 as the book only arrived 2 hours ago. Nevertheless, Deutscher has demonstrated that Stalin was a much more complex human being than some like to admit, including myself. However, the period that I'm reading about now is only beginning to approach 1905. Gulags, party purges and mass terror is still some decades away. In fact, he's still brandishing the pseudonym Koba; he's not yet the architect of communism. I'm looking forward to his later decades.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

I actually finished, a few days ago,Lenin's The State and Revolution. When reading I was answering questions to a study guide I found online.Will be posting said answers in the Learning forum in the next few days so I can polish them off with experience from knowledgeable Leninists (to ensure my answers are correct).

[Sixiang]

Since my last post, I've read:

Maoist Economics and the Revolutionary Road to Communism: The Shanghai Textbook, with an introduction and afterword by Raymond Lotta - A translation of a Chinese high school political economy textbook from the 1970's. It was taken off the presses after Deng and company took over in 1976. It thoroughly explains how socialist political economy worked under the Mao era of China and also offers critiques and explanations of the Soviet experience up until that point. Lotta's putting it all together at the end is really well written, too. Lotta is a great China academic, it's a shame he still associates with the RCP, but this was written before they became revisionist.

The Ancient Art of Tea: Finding Contentment and Happiness in a Perfect Cup of Tea, by Warren Peltier with a Foreword by John T. Kirby - just a little tiny book of translations of texts and poems from ancient Chinese "tea masters", explaining the methods and philosophy behind the Chinese tea ceremony. At times he gets really decadent about it, but it was an interested read.

[ed miliband]

I actually finished, a few days ago,Lenin's The State and Revolution. When reading I was answering questions to a study guide I found online.Will be posting said answers in the Learning forum in the next few days so I can polish them off with experience from knowledgeable Leninists (to ensure my answers are correct).

why do you assume there is a "correct" response to a text? surely one's response is shaped by a variety of factors, and may differ from other's in numerous ways?

[Zukunftsmusik]

Finished The Road a few days ago. One of the best books I've ever read, I think. The prose is beautiful and devouring.

Just begun reading The Sunset Limited, also by McCarthy

[Sentinel]

I'm reading a Stieg Larsson biography written by Jan-Erik Pettersson, extremely interesting. Larsson was the author of the Millenium crime novel trilogy, and is currently the internationally most sold swedish fiction author, whose books are now also being filmatised by Hollywood. The girl who kicked the hornets nest, one of the Millenium books, was the most sold book in the US in 2010.

He died very prematurely, just as he would have become famous; the Millenium books were published after his death. What many don't know, is that he was a trotskyist (long time member of the USFI) and one of the countrys most prominent anti-fascists. If he had lived longer, it could have meant a totally different kind of exposure for our ideas in Swedish and global media.

Rest in peace, Stieg.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stieg_Larsson

[TheGodlessUtopian]

why do you assume there is a "correct" response to a text? surely one's response is shaped by a variety of factors, and may differ from other's in numerous ways?

Within the context of the guide there is a correct answer as well as the fact that I am referring to correct in theoretically understanding; the base concept of what Lenin is trying to get across.

[o well this is ok I guess]

why do you assume there is a "correct" response to a text? surely one's response is shaped by a variety of factors, and may differ from other's in numerous ways? I don't think Lenin wrote with the idea of generating in each individual a unique viewpoint on the matter.

[Luc]

edit: arg nvm this isnt the right place to post this :/ sorry guys for the spam :(

[MarxSchmarx]

The Korean war by Bruce Cummings. Prior to that, the Divine Medical Records by Sousuke Natsukawa.

[MarxSchmarx]

Maoist Economics and the Revolutionary Road to Communism: The Shanghai Textbook, with an introduction and afterword by Raymond Lotta - A translation of a Chinese high school political economy textbook from the 1970's. It was taken off the presses after Deng and company took over in 1976. It thoroughly explains how socialist political economy worked under the Mao era of China and also offers critiques and explanations of the Soviet experience up until that point. Lotta's putting it all together at the end is really well written, too. Lotta is a great China academic, it's a shame he still associates with the RCP, but this was written before they became revisionist.




I didn't kmnow that was a high school text book (funny b/c I read a translation of it in secondary school, unassigned of course). At the time I was annoyed that the only citations were Mao, Lenin and Stalin and I think there were a few Marx quotes. It seemed like a compilation of anecdotes rather than a serious exposition of how Maoist economics was supposed to work, although I learned some new facts such as that diabetes insulin was perfected in China and that the yuan was in fact something like hard currency. But, given that it actually was textbook for young students rather than a textbook for worker's self-study, perhaps I can now see why a lot of it seemed so un-nuanced.

[bcbm]

'a scanner darkly' by philip k dick

i enjoyed black flame, good history, but i think they are falling into the 'well this worked in the past it could work again!' trap of many (most) pro-revs

[DasFapital]

The Last Stand, which about the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Also have started The Iron Heel by Jack London and hope to get around to The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

A few good wobblies/friends of mine and myself started a little Marx/Engels bookclub. We've been reading a lot of his early stuff ("For a Ruthless Critique on Everything Existing" - "Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right" - "On the Jewish Question" - selections of the 1844 Manuscripts)
We're going to read Critique of the Gotha Programme next time.

[Luc]

Im reading Black Flame enjoying it so far thinking of picking up the other volume too

also reading Program of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Canada

gunna also read Michael Bakunin: The Creative Passion i read a bit but stopped for some reason... it(the part i read) was good at dispelling myths/explaining things, also it had some extra info like i didnt know Bakunin was into dialectics

[-marx-]

Revolutionary Jews From Marx To Trotsky.
Marx & Engels On Literature And Art.

[bcbm]

just finished 'the man in the high castle' by philip k dick
currently working on
'street boners: 1764 hipster fashion jokes' by gavin mcinnes
'bursts: the hidden pattern behind everything we do' by albert-laszlo barabasi

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

Well, over the last month i have finished

"Occupy the Economy; Challenging Capitalism" - Richard Wolff, Great Book, really brilliant man!

"A Hitler Youth" -Henry Metelmann, also highly interesting, if you ever feel like knowing what it was like growing up in the Weimar Republic and then under nazism, read this!

"Revolution at the Gates; Selected Writing of Lenin" Slavoj Zizek, not bad, Zizek is fun to read now and then, but his dialectic approach is often quite abstract for me.

And I am now reading "The Falcons of the Kremlin; the Soviet Military Forces 1917-1980" and reading through Alan Bullocks "Hitler and Stalin; Parallel Lives" which is really quite interesting although it uses outdated and unscholarly sources such as Gulag Archipelago from the Fascist worm Solzhenitsyn and not only fallacious statistics about the agrarian collectivisation (10 Million killed etc.), but unscholarly and opinionated conclusions. Great information about the two's lives though and very interesting description of Hitler's life about which there seems to be a lot more material to have dug through than with Stalin. The title should really be 'Hitler and Stalin; a comparison'

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

I am looking to scratch up some money to buy this book "Wiki Media Leaks", an insight into the corruption of the capital-ist media, must be great.

[-marx-]

Karl Marx 'Capital' in Lithographs by Hugo Gellert (And Marx of course).

You can check out the cool art here: http://graphicwitness.org/contemp/marxtitle.htm

[smellincoffee]

The Green Metropolis, David Owen. Subtitle: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less are the Keys to Sustainability.

Living up to my elevated expectations. This guy wrote "Your Prius Won't Save You (http://www.txchnologist.com/2012/your-prius-wont-save-you-questions-for-david-owen-author-of-the-conundrum)".

[The Jay]

I read Occupy the Economy: Challenging Capitalism by Richard Wolff and Animal Farm by George Orwell within the past week. I also read a bit of H.P. Lovecraft.

[Ostrinski]

History In Black and White by David Barton per request from my grandfather. HERE WE GO

[Zav]

120 Days of Sodom by the Marquis de Sade. *me gusta mucho face*
Yeah. It's very, um, interesting. If you don't know about the book or author, the guy is the origin of the word 'sadism', and it's about violent orgies, kidnapping, rape, incest, and pretty much every other sexual taboo.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

Zombie Capitalism - Chris Harmen.

Pretty good, helps me form a better critique of different economic theories and a better understanding of capitalism from Marx's time to the present.

[Drosophila]

What is to be done? by Lenin, Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed, and Vol. 1 of Capital.

[The Red Hammer and Sickle]

Factorum by Charles Buckowski.

[Goblin]

Anne Franks Diary

Im also reading a book on Judaism and jewish history which i bought at the jewish museum in Oslo.

[The Jay]

I just started reading Arab Spring, Libyan Winter by Vijay Prashad today. It's put out by AK Press if anyone's interested.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

I just started reading Arab Spring, Libyan Winter by Vijay Prashad today. It's put out by AK Press if anyone's interested.
I just started this as well. I was surprised to find it at a local Barnes & Noble. I'm not far into it, but I'm enjoying it.

[The Jay]

Barnes & Noble sometimes shelves radical books and each time I'm surprised that they have them available. I bought several from them, but they have many more reactionary books than radical. Still, it does make me happy to see any radical lit getting attention.

[Agent Ducky]

Battle Royale because I watched the movie and the friend who I watched it with was like READ THE BOOK READ IT READ IT... It's good so far. I definitely see why people compare it to Hunger Games but it's on a completely different level.

[Sixiang]

Finished The Road a few days ago. One of the best books I've ever read, I think. The prose is beautiful and devouring.

Just begun reading The Sunset Limited, also by McCarthy

I also quite enjoyed The Road. It was one of the last novels I read before I got onto this almost two-year-long non-fiction binge.

Since my last post, I've read a few books:

Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and Americans in Vietnam, by Frances Fitzgerald - It's a best-seller from 1971, right before all U.S. troops were removed from Vietnam in 1972. She was a correspondent in Saigon in the mid-1960's, during the war. I got it because it had positive reviews on the back and I thought it would give me a good overview of the history of events. I did get that, but it was all delivered in incredibly liberal, idealist fashion. She basically credits all her knowledge on Vietnam to the teachings of a French scholar on Vietnam. It seems apparent that she had no knowledge of the Vietnamese language. She used next to no Vietnamese sources, besides just a very few documents amid a much larger group of French and American sources. Mostly official government and military reports and documents. So she she really writes blindly about the Vietnamese Communists in the North and the South, using pathetic guess work. She shows a clear lack of understanding of their culture and history. She writes about the war not in an anti-imperialist sense, but merely criticizes the U.S. government and military for using bad tactics. So she's like "We could have contained those uppity Vietnamese if we used better policies and military tactics, but all those in charge messed up." She never wishes victory for the Vietnamese people. I found out that aside from maybe 20 pages devoted to the Vietnamese communists themselves, she just talks about the South Vietnamese governments and leaders and the U.S. military leaders in Vietnam. So it's a good history of all those events, but her analysis, conclusions, and solutions are all very shortsighted.

Ho Chi Minh on Revolution: Selected Writings, 1920-1966 - A self-explanatory collection of his writings from that time period (from when he first joined the French Socialist Party, joining the faction that formed the French Communist Party with the creation of the third international up to just a few years before he passed away, when his country was still divided and being exploited and oppressed by U.S. and UN ally colonizers). Some of them were really great. I had no idea until I started to do research into all of this about his huge influence from the Maoist policies of the Chinese Communist Party, also that the Vietnamese Communist Party had a Maoist faction of sorts. It was interesting to see how the VCP dealt with the Sino-Soviet split, receiving aid and support from both.

The Long Revolution, by Edgar Snow - His last book about his last trip to China, which was in 1971 for 6 months, where he met with and interviewed his old friends, Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, among others. He also got tours of various schools, hospitals, and communes. Expertly written in simply, easy to understand language, but also covering complex and detailed topics.

Pornography & Civil Rights: A New Day for Women's Equality, by Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon - A short book explaining a group of city-wide ordinances drafted up by an anti-pornography feminist movement that the authors were involved in the the 1970's and 80's. Also explains the general ideas behind anti-pornography radical feminism. Unfortunately their solution is to delve into reformism, which is very unfortunate, and of course these ordinances didn't go very far. All they did was say that people could file cases against pornography producers for damages received by them being displayed in pornography, and they could in some cases have the particular pornography that they were featured in be destroyed.

Fanshen: A Documentary of Revolution in a Chinese Village, by William Hinton - A long book I had been meaning to read for quite some time. A great, detailed report on Hinton's experiences in a Chinese village in 1947 and 1948 (in a northern, communist-liberated village). Goes into great detail all about how CCP policies were carried out in that particular village and all the amazing revolutionary action that the peasants engaged in. A very inspiring and thorough book.

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

Just finished reading 1984 again. More specifically the 3rd act and Wilson's stay in the Ministry of Love. O'Brien's explanation of the Party's philosophy and why they are torturing Wilson is so dark and depressing.

Example -

"We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power."

[Dialectical Wizard]

Discourses on Livy by Niccolò Machiavelli and The Prison Notebooks by Antonio Gramsci.

[NewLeft]

Selected Works by MaoistRebelNews2 vol.1 (http://www.revleft.com/vb/www.revleft.com/vb/you-reading-v-t169516/index11.html)
Detroit: I Do Mind Dying
(http://www.revleft.com/vb/www.revleft.com/vb/you-reading-v-t169516/index11.html)

[Stain]

Selected Works by MaoistRebelNews2 vol.1


How's it? What's it about? Original content or collection of his blog posts?

[x359594]

Just finished Ring of Bone (expanded edition) by Lew Welch. His first small chapbook, Wobbly Rock, was published in 1960 by Auerhahn Press. The six-page poem brought the recognition of his contemporaries and the praise of older poets Charles Olson and Marianne Moore. It still speaks to its readers in what will become his distinctive voice. Terrific poetry.

[Ostrinski]

The Battle for Spain by Antony Beevor and The Spanish Civil War by Hugh Thomas.

[o well this is ok I guess]

Selected Works by MaoistRebelNews2 vol.1 (http://www.revleft.com/vb/www.revleft.com/vb/you-reading-v-t169516/index11.html) Oh god this book is real
why is this happening

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

Barnes & Noble sometimes shelves radical books and each time I'm surprised that they have them available. I bought several from them, but they have many more reactionary books than radical. Still, it does make me happy to see any radical lit getting attention.

That is nice to hear because i live in the largest publication city of europe and the mainstream book stores have absolutely nothing besides a few books describing Marx, but that's it; never any new leftist books, no intricate leftist books, just a bunch of mystery, thriller, crime bullshit!

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

Am half way through on "Soviet Economic Development from Lenin to Khrushchev", it's scholarly, well weighted, discreet and a good overview of the general economic policies and developments in the Russian Empire/Soviet Union.

[Omsk]

Antony Beevor


He is an awful historian, stay away from his works.

[Scarlet Fever]

Revolutionary Jews From Marx To Trotsky.
How'd you find this, comrade, might I ask? I'd really like to check it out but don't know how to get my hands on it...

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

Can anyone recommend me any books? I'm sorta running low and i have 150 Euros to spend on books for this year. I am looking for current books, written/published within the last 5 years covering any subjects about current struggles or conditions of working people as well as recent economic books.

[x359594]

The Battle for Spain by Antony Beevor and The Spanish Civil War by Hugh Thomas.

Well, they complement each other. Thomas is a conservative who highlights the military aspects of the war and Beevor is a liberal who gives equal time to politics and battles.

I liked Paul Preston's brief history The Spanish Civil War: Revolution, Reaction and Revenge and The Revolution and Civil War in Spain by Pierre Broue and Emile Temime.

[bcbm]

'in milton lumky territory' by philip k dick, one of his 'proletarian realism' novels

'gone native: an nco's story' by alan cornett

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Oh, reading various things right now: A Companion to Marx's Capital by David Harvey, Trotsky: The Life of a Revolutionary Marxist by Richard Brenner, and From Protest (http://www.chadzboyz.com/chadzforum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=10408&p=1005455#) to Power: A Manifesto for World Revolution by Workers Power.

Been reading all of them daily and have praise for each (though the Worker's Power doc is rather dry).

[Yuppie Grinder]

Nausea by Sartre. Do you folks mostly just read leftist political theory? I like that stuff too but I'd get bored reading nothing but it.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Nausea by Sartre. Do you folks mostly just read leftist political theory? I like that stuff too but I'd get bored reading nothing but it.

I have plenty of sci-fy and fantasy books.Currently I am just going through a few political works.

[Comrades Unite!]

Cutting my way through Marxism and the national question by Joseph Stalin.Great Read!

[HalPhilipWalker]

The Portable Dorothy Parker ed. by Marion Meade
What Is to Be Done by Lenin
Drift by Rachel Maddow
A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution by Orlando Figes

They're listed in order by my motivation to finish them. Maddow and Figes are both terrible fucking anticommunist liberals. Maddow is at least witty in her takedown of America's current war policy, but both her and Figes tend to let their ideological opposition to the Soviet Union, at the end and beginning respectively, show for all. Both books are very well written in their wildly different styles though.

I'm making up for it by reading Lenin and Communist Party member Dorothy Parker. I don't know if Marion Meade included any political writing by Dorothy Parker, but she (Parker) was a early antifascist and civil rights supporter.

[Book O'Dead]

Baudolino by Umberto Eco

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baudolino

[lan153rez]

I just started the Hunger Games. I refuse to see the movie because I know the book is better. Most books are always better than the movie.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Finished From Protest (http://www.chadzboyz.com/chadzforum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=10408&p=1005609#) to Power:A Manifesto for World Revolution by Workers Power.

For a leftist's organization manifesto it was alright.In some respects I think they could have been more explicit in their intention and some historical details but all in all it raised some interesting questions for me to ponder, especially about the role of the Fourth International.

Recommendation: Moderate

Genre:Political Science (http://www.chadzboyz.com/chadzforum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=10408&p=1005609#)

Link: http://fifthinternational.org/content/r ... ernational (http://fifthinternational.org/content/resistance-revolution-manifesto-fifth-international) (New 2010 draft)

[DasFapital]

The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy

[Zukunftsmusik]

The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy

that's a great book. have you read All the Pretty Horses or The Cities of the Plain? Out of the three I like The Crossing best.

Lately I've read The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon. It was good, I recommend reading it. I've also finished chapter three of Capital and Reform or Revolution by Luxemburg.

Right now I'm halfway through Sanctuary by William Faulkner.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Finished reading Trotsky: An Introduction, The Life and Times of a Revolutionary Marxist by Richard Brenner.

Was a wonderful book.The author brought the life of Mr.Trotsky to life in a grand way.Not only was he able to write a comprehensive booklet of his accomplishments and endeavors but he was able to do so with a wry sense of emotional talent, the kind that enables the reader to feel the subject's struggles.Though I couldn't agree with everything said within it from a theoretical perspective it was an overall great intro to Trotsky.

Recommendation: High

Genre: Historical Biography

Link: http://www.workerspower.net/shop-4

[DasFapital]

that's a great book. have you read All the Pretty Horses or The Cities of the Plain? Out of the three I like The Crossing best.

Not yet. This is actually the first of his books I have read. Those two are definitely on my list along with The Sunset Limited.

[Zukunftsmusik]

Not yet. This is actually the first of his books I have read. Those two are definitely on my list along with The Sunset Limited.

McCarthy is a fantastic writer. I suggest reading some of his earlier, lesser known works too, such as Child of God and Outer Dark. The latter is one of my favourites, even after reading Blood Meridian and The Road. The Sunset Limited is good, but it didn't grip me as much as his other novels.

[MarxSchmarx]

Maps from a town I can never return to by Kenta Nishimura
The Beautiful and the Damned by siddhartha deb
Portraits of American Syndicalism by Toshio Hisada

[smellincoffee]

Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13, Jim Lovell & Jeffrey Kluger; John Adams, David McCullough

[L.A.P.]

Has anyone heard of the book Beloved by Toni Morrison? It's part of my summer assignment for AP English Literature and I'm having a hard time reading it because I'm so incredibly uninterested in it. How is it that I can get through over 300 pages of Zizek in a matter of a couple months and 160 pages of Foucault in half a month, but I can't get passed page 60 on a fucking novel?

[Princess Luna]

Batman: Knightfall, Pt.1

I have not read very many comics before, but I really thought it was good. My only criticism is the anti-psychology vibe the comic seems gives off. Particularly the panels with the psychologist being interviewed on TV, the comic seems to be mocking the notions that mentally ill people are not responsible for their own actions and have more to fear from society then society has to fear from them . Beyond that I have always though the strength of Batman was the diversity of his villains and the comic does a good job showcasing a lot of them , Particularly the ones that have never seen the spotlight in any of the movies like the Ventriloquist, Zsasz, and the Madhatter.

[bcbm]

'blood rites: origins and history of the passions of war' by barbara ehrenreich

[The Douche]

Just finished introduction to civil war, about to finish til the clock stops, after that probably re-reading the coming insurrection.

[Le Communiste]

"A nation of sheep"
Interesting little story about people in the 1960's in america. And how they where (and still are) sheep. I just finished it, but I need to get my post count up:D

[Zukunftsmusik]

Dubliners by James Joyce
First as tragedy, then as farce by Zizek

[skitty]

Currently reading: Prison Notebooks-Gramski and Living My Life-Goldman
Most recent: The Bell Jar-Plath
Tropic of Cancer-Miller
Homage To Catalonia, and
Down and Out in Paris and London-Orwell
The Journal of George Fox-Nickalls

[Magón]

Zapatistas: The Chiapas Revolt and what it means for Radical Politics by Mihalis Mentinis.

Only about a third of the way through, but definitely a good book for anyone interested in the Zapatistas, new or seasoned in their struggles. A good buy, especially since it's on sale on AK Press for $15, from $31. Some of what I've read, I didn't even know, and has been pretty eye opening to me.

[Ostrinski]

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Anyone read this? My grandfathermwanted me too because he said he it influenced his views on humanity.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

"Mao: A Biography" by Ross Terrill

First chapter in, so far so good. Was fascinating learning about Mao's childhood.

[MarxSchmarx]

A spring without people by Kenta Nishimura
Empire of the word by Nicholas Ostler

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

Just got through the first 80 pages of Geoffrey Roberts' Stalin's Wars, absolutely brilliant i tell you.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Just got through the first 80 pages of Geoffrey Roberts' Stalin's Wars, absolutely brilliant i tell you.

Sounds like a cool book. I often wish that RevLeft had a book lending program.

[Magón]

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Anyone read this? My grandfathermwanted me too because he said he it influenced his views on humanity.

From what a friend of mine told me about the book, it has a pro neo-tribalist undertone, with the main conflict, or one of the conflicts, I'm not really sure because it never interested me enough to look into the book, being a nomadic group who's put in a better and friendlier light, than the agrarian non-nomadic group, who's taking over the nomad's places to go and causing problems.

And from what I know of Daniel Quinn, he is a self-described neo-tribalist like John Zerzan, preferring that whole idea, so it's no surprise it has a pro neo-tribalist tilt.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

From what a friend of mine told me about the book, it has a pro neo-tribalist undertone, with the main conflict, or one of the conflicts, I'm not really sure because it never interested me enough to look into the book, being a nomadic group who's put in a better and friendlier light, than the agrarian non-nomadic group, who's taking over the nomad's places to go and causing problems.

And from what I know of Daniel Quinn, he is a self-described neo-tribalist like John Zerzan, preferring that whole idea, so it's no surprise it has a pro neo-tribalist tilt.

I stopped reading it partway through when the gorilla patiently explains that Africa is steeped in poverty because it is living beyond it's means and that the truly humane thing to do would be to stop sending aid and allow enough people die off so that the continent could reach a sustainable population level :rolleyes:

I just finished Introduction to Civil War and I'm starting in on Nihilist Communism. My only complaint so far is that the epub I have has a lot of spelling errors.

[Ostrinski]

From what a friend of mine told me about the book, it has a pro neo-tribalist undertone, with the main conflict, or one of the conflicts, I'm not really sure because it never interested me enough to look into the book, being a nomadic group who's put in a better and friendlier light, than the agrarian non-nomadic group, who's taking over the nomad's places to go and causing problems.

And from what I know of Daniel Quinn, he is a self-described neo-tribalist like John Zerzan, preferring that whole idea, so it's no surprise it has a pro neo-tribalist tilt.Yeah, I'm two chapters in.

So far it's about a misanthropic young person disillusioned with society and its ideological trends (this is set right after the rebelliousness of the 60's was quelled) and so he finds an ad in the paper advertising as a teacher.

This person goes to the teacher, who happens to be a gorilla, and the gorilla is speaking of how civilization in its current state has both humanity and the earth headed for destruction (he refers to the civilized as 'takers' and the primitive as 'leavers').

He talks of how every society tells its own 'story' of how everything began, and how everything came to be the way it is (with a complete disdain for all modern understanding of the history of humans, society, and agriculture and some serious-anti science undertones).

I know that Quinn is not a primitivist, but I can see the grounds where people in the past have based that assertion off of.

He's a good writer though.

[bcbm]

'soldiers of fortune: a history of the mercenary in modern warfare' by tony geraghty

[Hermes]

Learning to Look, by Joshua C. Taylor

[Caj]

Finished Not in Our Genes by Leon Kamin, Richard Lewontin, and Steven Rose today.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

I've been skimming through my old books, rereading certain chapters. I'm pretty sure after the next few paychecks I get, I'm ordering all three volumes of The CNT in the Spanish Revolution by José Peirats.

It's a good reason to avoid the 105 F/ 40 C degree heat outside.

[Pricey]

I am currently reading 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' by Hemingway, it is an interesting book but written in a very simplistic style.

[Art Vandelay]

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