What are you reading? VI [Archive]

Os Cangaceiros

8th March 2013, 06:43

'mcmafia: a journey through the global criminal underworld' by misha glenny

That's a good book. Some people here would probably get irritated reading it though because the author throws in frequent jabs about how shitty and boring the former USSR was.

One of my favorite parts was when he described a party thrown by some Russian oligarch in the 90's, which was USSR themed, and they had the International & other socialist songs playing, busts of Brezhnev and Lenin and all those guys everywhere, but with coke and prostitutes and tons of booze...like a consciously ironic juxtaposition of the austerity of the USSR and the crazy hedonism of 90's Russia.

Durruti's friend

8th March 2013, 22:27

Just finished reading Jo Nesbo's "The Redeemer". Now going onto "Trotsky: Downfall of a Revolutionary" by Bertrand M. Patenaude.

LOLseph Stalin

9th March 2013, 00:26

I was re-reading "The Revolution Betrayed" and "Catching Fire" but since I haven't been at home that has kind of been put on hold.

Goblin

9th March 2013, 01:02

I finished Animal Farm, and it was awesome. Im currently reading 1984, and i really like it so far.

Pleb

9th March 2013, 01:41

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.

Pleb

9th March 2013, 01:43

I finished Animal Farm, and it was awesome. Im currently reading 1984, and i really like it so far.

You like it? Probably the most depressing book ever written. Animal farm is a good read.

The Jay

9th March 2013, 02:11

I'm reading State and Revolution. I'm also chocolate wasted.

The Intransigent Faction

9th March 2013, 07:09

Celebrity Humanitarianism: The ideology of global charity by Ilan Kapoor

I'm reading it for a class. It's...interesting. He's heavily influenced by Zizek and seems to go back and forth between a wonderfully scathing critique of lifestylism and a Lacanian explanation for consumerism.

Then to make things really strange, the concluding chapter's final section is titled "Dismantling capitalism: towards a democratic communism?", written as if he thinks a non-Leninist definition of communism is some postmodern brilliant idea that's never been thought of before.

MP5

10th March 2013, 22:08

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.

I love that book :) . It's one of my favorites for sure.

Right now i am reading Skag Boy's by Irvine Welsh. I loved Trainspotting and Glue and Porno was pretty awesome too (though not as good as the other 2) so i figured id read this one as well.

Zukunftsmusik

10th March 2013, 22:24

Animal farm by George Orwell. I will also start reading Knut Hamsuns Mysteries soon.

Mysteries is great. I'm reading Hamsun too, currently reading August, and just finished Landstrykere (don't know what they're called in English). Will probably read Hunger pretty soon.

Art Vandelay

10th March 2013, 22:27

I love that book :) . It's one of my favorites for sure.

Right now i am reading Skag Boy's by Irvine Welsh. I loved Trainspotting and Glue and Porno was pretty awesome too (though not as good as the other 2) so i figured id read this one as well.

I almost bought Scag Boys the other day, what do you think so far?

The Cheshire Cat

11th March 2013, 10:54

My people are rising - Aaron Dixon
Memoir of a Black Panther Party captain

TomHPMc

11th March 2013, 23:59

The Invisible Man by HG Wells and Neil Gaiman's Sandman (vol 4)

Starship Stormtrooper

13th March 2013, 01:45

I am currently reading There Is Power In a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America by Philip Dray. I am presently about 600 pages (4/5) into it. It is pretty good, would give it roughly 7/10. The actual history aspects of it quite good and he manages to cover quite a large scope of labor history. The political parts however, are quite disappointing with his analysis being that of a typical liberal sympathiser of the movement. Needless to say, I expected much more from a book that quoted Parsons in the opening sentences on the inside cover. His treatment of anarchists and radicals was similarly problematic, especially his reinforcement of the stereotypical bomb-throwing anarchist and his dismissal of radical theory.

After finishing it, I plan on checking out a copy of The Spanish Civil War by Hugh Thomas. Anyone have any opinions on the work? I've heard the author is conservative but it seems the most comprehensive work readily available to me.

tehAdmrl

13th March 2013, 02:40

I'm reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury for school, and I'm reading Stalingrad: How the Red Army Triumphed by Michael K. Jones for fun.

Pelarys

13th March 2013, 04:37

I just read the Iron Heel by Jack London and We by Zamyatin, I'm also reading The man who never died by Adler. Also I wondered what you guys think of Zola? I personally love his works but I'd like to have your opinions.

BurnedFlagz

13th March 2013, 05:20

I just finished the ABC of Anarchism by Alexander Berkman. I'm thinking about starting Ishmael but I like sticking with one book at a time and i have to read The Great Gatsby for school. Also I've been reading the alternate DC comic series: Red Son: Superman. It's fucking rad. In Red Son, Superman's rocket ship lands on a Ukrainian collective farm rather than in Kansas, an implied reason being a small time difference (a handful of hours) from the original timeline, meaning Earth's rotation placed the Ukraine in the ship's path instead of Kansas. Instead of fighting for "...truth, justice, and the American Way", Superman is described in Soviet radio broadcasts "...as the Champion of the common worker who fights a never-ending battle for Stalin, socialism, and the international expansion of the Warsaw Pact." Its quite entertaining to see a communist Superman, Batman, Wonder-woman, and Green Latern.

Zukunftsmusik

15th March 2013, 18:53

Hunger by Hamsun

Tenka

15th March 2013, 19:00

http://cthulhuchick.com/free-complete-lovecraft-ebook-nook-kindle/
Not right now, but recently. Just wanted to share. It is a well put together e-book collecting H.P. Lovecraft's original solo works from what appear to be minimally edited sources.

EDIT: It is missing The Alchemist, The Beast in the Cave, and other less memorable pre-1917 stories, possibly because they were amateur works (not that this should say anything about their quality).

Goblin

16th March 2013, 02:43

Mysteries is great. I'm reading Hamsun too, currently reading August, and just finished Landstrykere (don't know what they're called in English). Will probably read Hunger pretty soon.
Awesome! I just got both Landstrykere and August a few days ago (I still have to buy Men Livet Lever). I will start reading Landstrykere once im finished with Mysteries.

You like it? Probably the most depressing book ever written. Animal farm is a good read.
Yeah, its pretty depressing, but i dont mind that. I do think that Animal Farm is slightly better though.

Goblin

16th March 2013, 03:00

Not sure if it counts, but i have been reading a lot of poetry lately. Henrik Ibsen, Henrik Wergeland, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Olaf Bull, Inger Hagerup and Sigbjørn Obstfelder.

I also got Shakespeare's sonnets today. All 154 of them, in both english and norwegian. The guy sure knew how to write!

slum

16th March 2013, 03:29

I'm (re)reading Wage Labour and Capital (the first run through I got a bit lost I think), Origin of The Family, Private Property, and the State, The Brothers Karamazov, Myths of Male Dominance, and Moby Dick.

I have commitment issues and tend to neglect fiction.

20ARM13

16th March 2013, 05:04

Currently reading "Philosophy Of Revolution" By Lenny Flank. Simply Written, Perfectly understandable for the working class. Great educational tool.

John Lennin

16th March 2013, 20:37

At the moment i'm reading "Die Befreiung der Gesellschaft vom Staat" by Erich Mühsam.
I'm also rereading "Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets" for the fifth time.

Art Vandelay

18th March 2013, 23:12

Just finished my copy of Trotsky's Their Morals and Ours yesterday at work (which included his pamphlet The Moralists and Sycophants as well as a response by some liberal guy and then a rebuttle by Novack). I've just begun reading Dance of the Dialectic and I am very excited about it.

Akshay!

18th March 2013, 23:23

Das Kapital Volume 1 - Karl Marx
After this I'll read
The COINTELPRO Papers - Ward Churchill
People's History of the World - Chris Harman
and a couple of essays by Orwell :)

Dialectical Wizard

20th March 2013, 21:30

Saint Paul: The Foundation of Universalism by Alain Badiou

MarxSchmarx

23rd March 2013, 02:20

Fall of the House of Dixie by Bruce Levine

TomHPMc

24th March 2013, 01:15

Just finished 'Slaughterhouse 5'. Amazing.

Reading 'The Restaurant at the End of the Universe' now!

bcbm

26th March 2013, 05:02

'young mandela: the revolutionary years' - david james smith

only a few chapters in and it is interesting material but this guy seriously needs to learn how to stick to the fucking point, or at least get a better editor

Kalinin's Facial Hair

26th March 2013, 19:30

About to start Marxism and Modernism: An historical study of Lukács, Brecht, Benjamin and Adorno, by Eugene Lunn.

Futility Personified

26th March 2013, 20:34

Finished Animal Farm and Thud! in one day, 100 pages into War and Peace.

TheGodlessUtopian

1st April 2013, 20:53

Finished reading "Adolf Hitler" by John Toland.

Long book which while possessing the usual bourgeois trite against Leftism was a enjoyable look into the life of the infamous dictator.

Also today I finished reading "The Revolution Betrayed" by Trotsky.

slum

1st April 2013, 21:47

just finished origin of the family..., bakunin's god and the state, these two adorable/hilarious illustrated 'introductions' to lenin and trotsky, and a trashy memoir about 90s SF dyke culture

i'm in the middle of an ethnography about mortuary cannibalism for class, and i wanna read conquest of bread and some shorter works on marxists.org from lenin and trotsky

the library has probably sent the fbi my address and checkout record by now

Zukunftsmusik

2nd April 2013, 15:26

just finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I liked it a lot.

Before that I read Ung må verden ennu være (more or less directly translated: "the world must still be young") by the Norwegian stalinist Nordahl Grieg. It was really good, contained some quotable passages/rants on humanism etc. It's a portrait of the political conflicts during the '30s, dealing with the fSU and the processes and the Spanish civil war. The character gallery is huge and at times slightly difficult to follow. Almost each character represents the different political currents of the time, and Grieg's mission was to make you take a stand. It was published in '38 so obviously this worked out better then than now. I also think it's problematic that he tries to make you choose between two or several stances of which none were really revolutionary. But I guess he was a child of his time.

Will probably start reading Animal Farm pretty soon. I'm also reading some essays by/on Zizek.

Turinbaar

2nd April 2013, 15:54

I've just begun "Kind and Usual Punishment," by Jessica Mitford, which begins by proposing an amusing reversal of circumstances. The modern prison warden and his guards regard their inmates, not anymore officially as vermin, but rather as unruly children of terminal inferiority to be "rehabilitated," or at least looked after as wards of the state. As a sadistic therapy house, the modern prison recruits psychologists to see what makes their inmates tick, but imagine what results would be gotten from a thorough mental examination of the keepers themselves. The results are pretty obvious if you think about it.

thriller

3rd April 2013, 01:18

Currently reading "What Is To Be Done?" by Chernyshevsky. His style reminds me of Olesha's "Envy".

bcbm

4th April 2013, 06:22

'storming las vegas: how cuban-born, soviet trained commando took down the strip to the tune of five world-class hotels, three armored cars and millions of dollars' by john huddy

...fuck yeah

Taters

4th April 2013, 06:29

'storming las vegas: how cuban-born, soviet trained commando took down the strip to the tune of five world-class hotels, three armored cars and millions of dollars' by john huddy

...fuck yeah

Uuuuuuhhhhh, yeah, that's gonna be my next book. Move over, Marx!

A World At Arms is, well, probably not the fastest read ever. Probably won't read it all the way through, but I like how thoroughly it covers the neutral countries in WWII.

Zukunftsmusik

4th April 2013, 22:46

I'm finding Animal Farm kinda disappointing. I thought I would finish it in a day, but it's actually going quite slow because it's... boring

Astarte

4th April 2013, 23:04

Days with Lenin by Maxim Gorky and Mysterium Coniunctionis by C.G. Jung.

thriller

5th April 2013, 16:04

Days with Lenin by Maxim Gorky and Mysterium Coniunctionis by C.G. Jung.

Gorky is the shit. If you have read Tolstoy, check out Gorky's "Recollections of Tolstoy" pretty damn good.

TheGodlessUtopian

8th April 2013, 17:38

Finished reading the "Snowmelt River" by Ryan P. Frank...

Review: https://popculturecoup.wordpress.com/2013/04/06/the-snowmelt-river-by-frank-p-ryan/

Slippers

8th April 2013, 18:51

I've just started "Also Sprach Zarathustra".

bcbm

10th April 2013, 22:13

'soldier of sidon' by gene wolfe. historical fantasy set in ancient egypt, not that bad so far actually. wolfe is one of my favorite authors so i am glad this wasn't dissapointing

chase63

10th April 2013, 22:26

just started reading "economic and philosophic manuscripts of 1844" last night.

Workers-Control-Over-Prod

10th April 2013, 22:42

Reading Revolutionary Strategy by Mike MacNair

tehAdmrl

12th April 2013, 04:53

Bonk by Mary Roach

Ele'ill

15th April 2013, 17:26

stuff by monsieur dupont

avoiding the last 50 pages of book five of game of thrones series

vizzek

15th April 2013, 23:44

stuff by monsieur dupont

thats where its at homie :cool:

TheGodlessUtopian

17th April 2013, 20:13

Volume Two of "The Morning Deluge: Mao Tsetung and the Chinese Revolution-From the Long March To Liberation" by Han Suyin.

bcbm

18th April 2013, 11:28

'a time of gifts' by patrick leigh fermor

Art Vandelay

18th April 2013, 16:41

Robespierre: A Revolutionary Life

Goblin

18th April 2013, 17:10

Howl and other poems by Allen Ginsberg. Im actually reading the norwegian translation of it. Trying to analyze some of the poems in it. Just for fun.

Art Vandelay

18th April 2013, 17:37

Howl and other poems by Allen Ginsberg. Im actually reading the norwegian translation of it. Trying to analyze some of the poems in it. Just for fun.

Despite some of his questionable views (being a NAMBLA supporter and all) Ginsberg was a fine poet. Burroughs is my personal favorite of the beats though.

Nevsky

18th April 2013, 17:43

Just started reading Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin, I always loved Tchaikovsky's opera on the subject but never actually read the novel.

smellincoffee

19th April 2013, 04:23

The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander.

LuÃs Henrique

19th April 2013, 15:45

The Black Petaltail (http://geocurrents.info/download/Terranova-The-Black-Petaltail-by-Martin-W.-Lewis.pdf) (PDF) by Martin Lewis.

(there are .mobi and .epub versions here (http://geocurrents.info/terranova-the-black-petaltail) too.)

Science fiction and conworlding. A pretty interesting read. It is not available on paper, though.

Luís Henrique

Ele'ill

19th April 2013, 19:53

(http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/aragorn-nihilism-anarchy-and-the-21st-century)nihilism, anarchy, and the 21st century

http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/aragorn-nihilism-anarchy-and-the-21st-century

I was going to quote some Hollywood type stuff from this but there's too much. Assassinations, riots, armed defense, bombs, daggers and revolvers, infiltrating secret police, killing cops, etc..

Goblin

19th April 2013, 20:15

Despite some of his questionable views (being a NAMBLA supporter and all) Ginsberg was a fine poet. Burroughs is my personal favorite of the beats though.
Yeah, Ginsberg had some fucked up views. But his poems were awesome.

I've never read anything by William Burroughs, but i really want to. I have heard alot of great things about Naked Lunch. I will buy it once i have the money.

Jack Kerouac is also pretty cool. I have been reading alot of his poems online lately. I ordered San Francisco Blues a few days ago, so it should arrive in my mail soon.

Art Vandelay

24th April 2013, 15:58

Yeah, Ginsberg had some fucked up views. But his poems were awesome.

I've never read anything by William Burroughs, but i really want to. I have heard alot of great things about Naked Lunch. I will buy it once i have the money.

Jack Kerouac is also pretty cool. I have been reading alot of his poems online lately. I ordered San Francisco Blues a few days ago, so it should arrive in my mail soon.

Honestly I would recommend reading the William Lee series in proper order. Start with junky, move onto queer, then naked lunch.

Dear Leader

24th April 2013, 16:05

Reading "An Introduction to Critical Theory".

Ele'ill

24th April 2013, 21:18

a short piece that I missed or forgot about on Occupy Seattle. I thought it was well done albeit short and thought it post worthy so here I am

Becoming Uncontrollable: An Anarchist Reflection on Occupy Seattle

http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/anonymous-becoming-uncontrollable-an-anarchist-reflection-on-occupy-seattle

Art Vandelay

25th April 2013, 01:56

I just ordered the 3 volume biography of Trotsky, so hopefully that arrives by the time I finish my bio of Robespierre.

Yuppie Grinder

25th April 2013, 02:08

I just ordered the 3 volume biography of Trotsky, so hopefully that arrives by the time I finish my bio of Robespierre.

The Prophet Armed?

skitty

25th April 2013, 02:56

Black Reconstruction in America-W.E.B. Du Bois; and
Gravity's Rainbow-Thomas Pynchon

I'd recommend Du Bois for anyone; and Gravity's Rainbow for anyone who made it through Infinite Jest by DFW!

Art Vandelay

25th April 2013, 03:58

The Prophet Armed?

I ordered all 3 of them; The Prophet Armed, The Prophet Unarmed and The Prophet Outcast. Cost me like 66 bucks, but that's not that bad considering its 3 books.

human strike

25th April 2013, 05:01

'What Do Women Want?' by Luise Eichenbaum and Susie Orbach.

I think this book might be changing my life...

slum

25th April 2013, 06:32

the iliad

Zukunftsmusik

25th April 2013, 18:06

I'm reading a whole bunch of books lately, but they're mostly Norwegian and pretty unknown for most people on here. Just started reading The Fall by Camus.

Dr Doom

25th April 2013, 21:38

"Q" - Luther Blissett
"The World Turned Upside Down" - Christopher Hill

Oldboy

1st May 2013, 17:49

I've just started on a couple of books.

The Making Of Global Capitalism by Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin and
School's Out Forever by Scott K. Andrews

Ele'ill

2nd May 2013, 02:28

the book of disquiet

Comrade Nasser

2nd May 2013, 03:04

Game of Thrones. Currently on 2nd book.

Workers-Control-Over-Prod

2nd May 2013, 03:18

The Global Minotaur; Europe, America and the Future of the Global Economy - Yanis Varoufakis. Very well written and good overview over the past half century's US and global economic history.

bcbm

8th May 2013, 09:16

'the mammoth book of bikers' my friend who gives me shit to read lately dropped the ball so i was left scouring my bookshelf for a book to read at work and this was the only one i hadnt read. ugh

Game of Thrones. Currently on 2nd book.

the book series is 'a song of ice and fire' 'game of thrones' is the first book in that series;)1

Per Levy

8th May 2013, 09:30

the "a song of ice and fire" series, was really suprised by how good it is. reading "a storm of swords" right now and the red wedding is upon me soon. cant wait to read victarions and ashas chapters in the next books, should be fun. besides that im reading a bit of marx here and there.

Ele'ill

8th May 2013, 17:40

Broca's Brain, Comet, and Cosmos - Carl Sagan

Letters from the Earth - Mark Twain

finished book 5 of game of thrones

Akshay!

8th May 2013, 17:58

"Myth of Sisyphus" Albert Camus

Brutus

8th May 2013, 18:04

The baader meinhof complex by Stefan Aust

Rugged Collectivist

8th May 2013, 18:18

Why Marx Was Right by Terry Eagleton. I'm about 30 pages in. So far I haven't really learned anything new but I guess I'm not the target audience. Hopefully this will help me hone my arguments.

Art Vandelay

8th May 2013, 21:08

Finished my bio of Robespierre, on to Vol. 1 of Deutscher's 3 volume Trotsky bio, The Prophet.

Dr Doom

8th May 2013, 21:13

Finished my bio of Robespierre

any good ?

slum

8th May 2013, 21:16

on to Vol. 1 of Deutscher's 3 volume Trotsky bio, The Prophet.

let us know how that one goes? i am curious but it seems like a big commitment

Asmo

8th May 2013, 21:31

I'm rereading Harry Potter because I forgot how much I loved the series.

Art Vandelay

9th May 2013, 03:51

any good ?

It was surprisingly really good. I was expecting any biography not coming from a Marxist perspective, would naturally be extremely critical of Robespierre. But 'Robespierre: A Revolutionary Life' by Peter Mcphee was really good; he presented a non-biased, compelling and understanding portrait of a man who was undoubtedly transformed by the great change in material conditions he was surrounded by. It made me respect Robespierre, even more then I did before beginning the read.

Art Vandelay

9th May 2013, 03:53

let us know how that one goes? i am curious but it seems like a big commitment

I ordered all 3, in a package deal, from my local bookstore for just over 66$; so roughly 22$ per book. Based off what I've read for reviews, its considered one of the greatest biographies in the English language and despite its length, is a considerably easy and quick read, due to Deutcher's writing style.

Akshay!

10th May 2013, 08:21

Finished my bio of Robespierre, on to Vol. 1 of Deutscher's 3 volume Trotsky bio, The Prophet.

Deutscher = best biographer ever.

Ele'ill

11th May 2013, 00:19

Mainly reading Comet by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan apparently Halley was everything science related and probably killed his dad who gave him everything he wanted.

Couple college algebra/calculus books

picked up a current college physics book and a current college biology book today from goodwill I had forgotten how much I love biology

slum

11th May 2013, 03:36

18th brumaire and condition of the working class in england in 1844
and ovid's metamorphoses, some essays by goldman that are pretty ok, mostly rhetoric

just finished a book on nuclear testing in the marshall islands, chilling stuff and read errico malatesta's pamphlet on anarchy which i actually really enjoyed

Rugged Collectivist

12th May 2013, 20:39

I bought two books today, but I likely won't actually read them for a bit because I have other books I need to finish.

The Philosophy Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

Fighting Techniques of Naval Warfare 1190 BC - Present

bcbm

17th May 2013, 08:52

'the secret history' by donna tartt
'the skating rink' by roberto bolano
'lies, inc' by philip k dick

slum

17th May 2013, 09:03

roberto bolano is the shit

Il Medico

17th May 2013, 22:17

I haven't read a book in like two months, been to busy with my new job and stuff. Want to get off the wagon and get book drunk again. Dunno what I should read next though, have like half a library worth of stuff to read, so I want y'alls opinion.

Right now I'm torn between starting up The Book Thief, catching up on Clash of Kings, grabbing another Hemingway off the shelf, probably To Have and Have Not, or jumping into Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut. I was also considering re-reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas or Life, the Universe, and Everything, because I never really finished them for one reason or another.

TheGodlessUtopian

19th May 2013, 17:55

Finished reading the second volume of the Morning Deluge...

Review: http://popculturecoup.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/the-morning-deluge-vol-2-from-the-long-march-towards-liberation-by-han-suyin/

In short: A good short biography/history of a certain stage in the Chinese Revolution for those interested in a look from a pro-Mao lens.

Dr Doom

19th May 2013, 19:53

lucasville: the untold story of a prison uprising - staughton lynd

factotum - bukowski

JPSartre12

19th May 2013, 20:34

Living in the End Times, by Zizek.

I've had it for a while but haven't gotten around to reading it. I'm that that I have the time to now.

Let's Get Free

19th May 2013, 23:50

Nietzsche, Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist- Walter Kaufmann.

Lobotomy

20th May 2013, 09:04

Kafka, metamorphosis

it was just ok.

Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant'

20th May 2013, 09:27

Just finished Drawing Blood by Poppy Z Brite, I love his stuff.
Trying to read Naked Lunch but it's just going over my head.

Ele'ill

20th May 2013, 18:52

almost done reading Fledgling by Octavia E Butler and starting (finally) the sequel to The Passage (by Justin Cronin) called The Twelve

I am into vampires again. There is a lot that I like about Fledgling, I like how the Ina are portrayed as being another species and their senses like being able to smell specifics about humans and other Ina and their night vision and physical abilities to run fast and stuff isn't just a tool used to make certain action sequences exciting it's a common theme that is written into the entire story very well. I also like how the Ina dismiss werewolves as being a silly myth.

Letters From The Earth by Mark Twain is occupying me too

Zukunftsmusik

20th May 2013, 19:40

Soon finished Growth of the Soil by Hamsun. Wonderful.

Brandon's Impotent Rage

20th May 2013, 19:48

The Tin Collectors by Stephen J. Cannell.

If the name sounds familiar, it's because he was pretty much single-handedly responsible for NBC's prime time line-up in the 80s and 90s (think The A-Team, 21 Jump Street, The Rockford Files, etc.)

The guy was a genuinely gifted writer. His novels are some of the best pieces of crime fiction I've ever read.

Dropdead

20th May 2013, 19:51

Reading Lenin Biography by Service
Service is pretty uhmm.. ''When Lenin was 3, he destroyed a paper mâché horse that he got for his birthday. This was a sign showing what Lenin would be a cruel, malevolent, evil dictator.''

Yeah.

TheGodlessUtopian

26th May 2013, 16:26

Started reading and am subsequently almost done with "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" by Pablo Fireire. Also started and finished a "tip book" for college students (https://popculturecoup.wordpress.com/2013/05/26/the-secrets-of-college-success-edited-by-lynn-f-jacobs-and-jeremy-s-hyman/) which was alright as far as advice went (though a lot of it was common sense I thought).

Kalinin's Facial Hair

26th May 2013, 16:29

Road to Power, by Kautsky.

bad ideas actualised by alcohol

26th May 2013, 16:45

Road to Power, by Kautsky.

It's a very interesting book. Probably the best work he wrote before reneging on Marxism.

bcbm

27th May 2013, 00:24

'patrick leigh fermor: an adventure' by artemis cooper

bcbm

28th May 2013, 07:54

'the third reich' by roberto bolano

Red Commissar

29th May 2013, 09:26

"Star Fraction" by Ken MacLeod. I found it hard to actually get interested in this book at first, but it picks up about half-way through. Has some call outs to socialism, lots of nerdy trot stuff in there that flew over my head.

PC LOAD LETTER

29th May 2013, 09:29

still reading blood meridian, it was stolen from me a while back so i just got a new copy in, have only a few chapters left, I'd syaryed moby dick while I was waiting for the shipment, so I'm reading both rioghtn ow. I only have a couple of chapters lefty in Blood Meridian so I'll start another book alongside Moby Dick soon.

Dear Leader

29th May 2013, 18:36

The German Revolution, 1917-1923 by Pierre Broue

Brandon's Impotent Rage

29th May 2013, 19:29

Horns, by Joe Hill.

I <3 Joe Hill (the author, and the man he was named after). In my view he's a much more well-rounded author than his father (and his father isn't an easy act to follow).

Dr Doom

29th May 2013, 21:02

the bluest eye - toni morrison

also returned to reading e.p thompsons 'the making of the english working class' after having previously given up.

TheGodlessUtopian

31st May 2013, 15:27

Finished reading "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" by Pablo Freire

Review: https://popculturecoup.wordpress.com/2013/05/30/pedagogy-of-the-oppressed-by-pablo-freire/

Over-all: A thought-provoking piece relating the work of making revolutionary anti-capitalist revolution from a libertarian education standpoint. Is a work I should engage more with on a later date.

TheGodlessUtopian

1st June 2013, 15:08

Started reading "1 in 10: Gay and Lesbian Educators tell their stories" edited by Kevin Jennings.

So far so good. The stories are engrossing and interesting. Somewhat old since most of them are from the eighties but it is still a great read.

Flying Purple People Eater

1st June 2013, 15:16

"Persian Fire: The first world empire and the battle for the West". -T. Holland.

Per Levy

1st June 2013, 15:21

a feast for crows, really good stuff i like the greyjoy and dorne chapters quite a lot, and jamies as well, he is a great character. but at this rate i'll be done with the series in july and then have to wait for winds of winter. hopefully martin can get his shit together and write all the books before he dies, he isnt the youngest anymore.

slum

3rd June 2013, 06:40

ecce homo

not really sure why
i guess i enjoy the self-indulgence of reading another mind's self-indulgence
also i haven't slept in like 48 hours so

Ele'ill

3rd June 2013, 21:23

a feast for crows, really good stuff i like the greyjoy and dorne chapters quite a lot

I found those boring and unnecessary and skipped over them. I do this with a lot of books they become a chose your own story/ending maybe that's why I'm influenced by post-left texts :sleep:

Aurora

3rd June 2013, 21:55

Just finished Shachtman's The Fight For Socialism, highly recommended reading, very clear and easy to follow writing with a well developed chapter order, the best and easiest explanation of the marxist analysis and critique of capitalism i've ever read.
Interesting stuff about state monopoly capitalism and the growth of bureaucratism too.

http://www.marxists.org/archive/shachtma/1946/ffs/index.htm

Only criticism is it lacked any mention of women, a rather large oversight, and i of course disagree with his bureaucratic collectivism theory but luckily that's confined to a paragraph near the end.

Zukunftsmusik

4th June 2013, 21:30

Will start reading American Psycho tonight.

slum

5th June 2013, 03:07

just read seneca's on the shortness of life
might replace marcus aurelius for number one ancient roman self-help book

eta: now reading schopenhauer's studies in pessimism help

d3crypt

5th June 2013, 04:30

Im reading Das Kapital, but its kind of boring. I'm also reading this book called the Recruit and its pretty good. Third im reading The State and Revolution, and i like it but don't agree with all of it.

bcbm

5th June 2013, 10:00

'the judgment of paris: the revolutionary decade that gave the world impressionism' by ross king

shantaram

5th June 2013, 14:32

Currently reading Malcolm X biography for the second time, probably the most inspiring book out there

InvalidPacket

5th June 2013, 16:08

I have just recently began reading Capital Vol. 1 and I hope to finish it before the summer is over.

Ele'ill

5th June 2013, 18:46

still reading 'the passage' series, on book two 'The Twelve' it has been a while since I read a book or series that had such dark alienating realness illustrated so well

we are babcock

Brutus

5th June 2013, 19:11

Revolutionary strategy by Mike McNair.

Bardo

7th June 2013, 12:34

I've just picked up a fresh copy of Das Kapital. I've been wanting to read it again and have already started.

I'm also planning on reading through Deng: A Political Biography by Benjamin Yang and Australia in Peace and War by T.B. Millar.

Dropdead

7th June 2013, 16:35

The State and the revolution by Lenin

Aurora

7th June 2013, 18:16

Back to The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Engels. For some reason i find the family section really difficult, a combination of unfamiliarity with differing family forms and the terminology associated with them i guess. The later sections i'm sure will be much easier.

Kalinin's Facial Hair

8th June 2013, 03:11

Orange Juche

8th June 2013, 03:38

The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft: Dreams of Terror and Death (by H.P. Lovecraft)

Petrol Bomb

8th June 2013, 04:37

Finished Animal Farm a little while back.
It was good. Right now I am moving onto Das Kapital - Volume One, by Karl Marx.
I plan to move read 1984 by George Orwell once I complete Volume One.

Goblin

8th June 2013, 15:05

Pan by Knut Hamsun

The Vox Populi

11th June 2013, 05:26

I am currently reading "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

bcbm

11th June 2013, 07:51

'hunting eichmann: how a band of survivors and a young spy agency chased down the world's most notorious nazi' by neal bascomb

bricolage

11th June 2013, 10:40

I'm reading the third section of Q, I read the other two maybe a year ago and then stopped for some reason. This one might be the best of the three though.
Just finished Kraken by China Mieville.
I'm also reading Louise Michel's memoirs.

Per Levy

11th June 2013, 11:17

the song of ice and fire series is on hold till i have more time to read, wich would be next week, but im planning for a longer break after a feast for crows and go more scify with "On Basilisk Station" the honor harrington series is supposed to be good, well i'll see soon enough. nothing political right now, besides sometimes reading a bit in the "Economic & Philosophical Manuscripts" from marx wich i actually like quite a lot.

TheGodlessUtopian

11th June 2013, 15:44

Started and finished reading "A Brief History of Neoliberalism" by David Harvey

Review: http://popculturecoup.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/a-brief-history-of-neoliberalism-by-david-harvey/

An interesting read and overview of Neoliberalism. Worthy of any Leftist's attention if you are interested in the subject matter.

Petrol Bomb

12th June 2013, 23:12

I was lucky enough to have an English and Social studies teacher who had just given me The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli, and Selected Works, Marx and Engels.

Atilla

14th June 2013, 13:08

Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution by Peter Kropotkin.

bcbm

17th June 2013, 03:21

'everything ravaged, everything burned: stories' by wells tower

Tenka

17th June 2013, 08:40

Harry Adam Knight's The Fungus. Great fun.

Zukunftsmusik

17th June 2013, 09:15

Post Office by Bukowski

ed miliband

17th June 2013, 17:50

'everything ravaged, everything burned: stories' by wells tower

i've had this since it came out, but just the other day i was thinking about actually giving it a read. let me know how it is.

CriticalJames

17th June 2013, 19:51

Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class - Owen Jones

Point Blank

17th June 2013, 20:43

Catch-22

Goblin

20th June 2013, 18:34

Amatøren (The Amateur) by Lars Saabye Christensen

Diary Of A Drug Fiend by Aleister Crowley

bcbm

22nd June 2013, 02:24

'the people of paper' by salvador plascencia
'the travellers tree' by patrick leigh fermor
'blood meridian or the evening redness in the west' by cormac mccarthy (again)

i've had this since it came out, but just the other day i was thinking about actually giving it a read. let me know how it is.

its really good and a pretty quick and easy read. read it!

Zukunftsmusik

25th June 2013, 00:39

'blood meridian or the evening redness in the west' by cormac mccarthy (again)

aw yea

I'm reading La peste by Camus.

ed miliband

25th June 2013, 00:42

'the people of paper' by salvador plascencia
'the travellers tree' by patrick leigh fermor
'blood meridian or the evening redness in the west' by cormac mccarthy (again)

its really good and a pretty quick and easy read. read it!

aight, you convinced me.

i'm doing a module on 'blood meridian' next term. well, 'blood meridian' and a number of other texts. really excited.

Le Communiste

26th June 2013, 17:12

Mostly Harmless-Douglas Adams
My 3rd re-read of the series

slum

26th June 2013, 19:36

i'm finally starting 2666

tell my wife i love her

TheIrrationalist

26th June 2013, 21:11

Currently reading Plato's Republic.

Ceallach_the_Witch

26th June 2013, 23:54

Just finished Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, started The First Circle by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

MarxSchmarx

28th June 2013, 04:23

Quisling, a study in treason, by oddvar hoidal

bcbm

2nd July 2013, 03:11

'the schirmer inheritance' by eric ambler

InvalidPacket

2nd July 2013, 03:17

I'm currently reading multiple things: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, Capital Volume 1 by Marx, and various suggestions that Q made to me.

Kalinin's Facial Hair

2nd July 2013, 03:34

Lectures on Fascism, by Togliatti.

bcbm

3rd July 2013, 02:58

'beacons in the night: with the oss and tito's partisans in wartime yugoslavia' by franklin lindsay

dirtysquatter

3rd July 2013, 16:36

Currently reading Post-Scarcity Anarchism by Murray Bookchin

TheGodlessUtopian

3rd July 2013, 17:10

"The Talisman" by Stephen King

Oldboy

3rd July 2013, 17:36

Q by Luther Blissett / Wu Ming

Le Socialiste

4th July 2013, 18:50

About to finish "Subterranean Fire: A History of Working-Class Radicalism in the United States" by Sharon Smith. Then on to "Lenin and the Revolutionary Party" by Paul Le Blanc.

JPSartre12

4th July 2013, 19:38

Madness and Civilization, by Michel Foucault

MarxSchmarx

8th July 2013, 03:45

One Piece, Vol. 61, "Romance Dawn for the New World" by Eichiro Oda.

Hermes

8th July 2013, 03:52

About halfway through Tillie Olsen's Yonnondio, which I'm enjoying immensely.

d3crypt

8th July 2013, 05:05

Anarchism and other essays by Emma Goldman

Point Blank

8th July 2013, 11:34

His Master's Voice, by Stanislaw Lem.

Hope I will like it. I read The Invincible before and thought it was good, but never managed to finish Solaris. :p

Os Cangaceiros

9th July 2013, 02:22

The Northern Ireland Conflict: A Beginner's Guide by Aaron Edwards and Cillian McGrattan

Not as interesting as some other books on the topic that I've read.

Also, I read a bunch of magazines.

Brandon's Impotent Rage

9th July 2013, 04:11

Joe Hill's short story collection 20th Century Ghosts.

Goddamn but this is some of the finest short fiction I've ever read. Pesonal favorites are "Best New Horror", "Pop Art" and "The Cape" (the last one inspired an awesome comic book)

MarxArchist

9th July 2013, 06:52

I'm reading 'Chaussures'. It's a period piece set in the romantic era (1850's) about a young peblian who falls in love with his shoes. From what I'm gathering it's an allegory exposing the strong sense of alienation and anomie the protagonist felt as he was enduring the process of proletarianization under the up and coming industrial system. The transformative experience that was his own commodification made him identify with the commodity he produced and thus saw no difference between being sexually attracted to a human or a pair of shoes. I think it may have been ghost written by Louis-Ferdinand Celine as it's extremely nihilistic and graphic for something written in the 1920's. One could even call it shoe porn. I'll leave that one up to your imagination.

Has anyone read Journey To The End Of The Night?

Paladin

9th July 2013, 23:00

I am currently reading The Real Middle Earth by Brian Bates, and A collection of short stories by Robert E Howard.

Ele'ill

11th July 2013, 01:22

Skimmed through Crimethinc's days of war nights of love or whatever it's called while sitting at the park today and ended up just watching muscly dudes play basketball. I found it to be lacking and under-defined in the most vital of areas even as an introductory piece which I think is what it was supposed to be.

Also finished 'The Twelve' the second in 'The Passage' trilogy by Justin Cronin. It was as dark and fulfilling as the first book. Awaiting the third book "The City of Mirrors"(2014). I found out they're making movies based off the books and I am in agony because I know they will fuck everything up. Anyways I recommend the book series http://enterthepassage.com/ to anyone who likes (the first book covers the actual vampire apocalypse) post-civ, post-apocalyptic, vampires, and mystery.

Flying Purple People Eater

11th July 2013, 01:47

The Scramble for Africaby Thomas Pakeham.

The Intransigent Faction

18th July 2013, 07:23

I just recently finished Julian Assange - Wikileaks: Warrior for Truth by Sophie Radermecker & Valerie Guichaoua.

A great read which shouldn't be judged by its title.

bcbm

20th July 2013, 00:47

'anathem' by neal stephenson

The Feral Underclass

20th July 2013, 00:50

Orgasms of History: 3000 Years of Spontaneous Insurrection (http://www.radicalbooks.co.uk/product/orgasms-history-3000-years-spontaneous-insurrection)

bcbm

20th July 2013, 12:29

Orgasms of History: 3000 Years of Spontaneous Insurrection (http://www.radicalbooks.co.uk/product/orgasms-history-3000-years-spontaneous-insurrection)

i almost, for the summer, traded my copy of this to a frat bro for his copy of 'the ego and its own' by stirner one time

The Feral Underclass

20th July 2013, 12:47

i almost, for the summer, traded my copy of this to a frat bro for his copy of 'the ego and its own' by stirner one time

But then you didn't? I think this was a good choice.

bcbm

20th July 2013, 20:35

But then you didn't? I think this was a good choice.

i kept it and still got 'ego and its own,' which bored me to tears

TheGodlessUtopian

21st July 2013, 16:09

Finished reading "The Word for World is Forest" by Ursula K. Le Guin.

A great read with imperialism heavy in the theme. In short: It is like Avatar only infinitely better.

Review: http://popculturecoup.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/the-word-for-world-is-forest-by-ursula-k-le-guin/

TheIrrationalist

27th July 2013, 16:13

Currently reading Schelling's Of Human Freedom, Fichte's Foundations of the Entire Science of Knowledge and Deleuze's and Guattari's Anti-Oedipus, and I have Hegel's Phenomenology of the Mind sitting on my table. :blink:

Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages

27th July 2013, 16:18

The Stars My Destination, pretty cool so far.

ComradeOm

27th July 2013, 17:27

Kershaw's Hitler. It's pretty good

TheGodlessUtopian

28th July 2013, 17:22

Finished reading The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub.

Review: https://popculturecoup.wordpress.com/2013/07/28/the-talisman-by-stephen-king-peter-straub/

F. Marti

29th July 2013, 07:49

Sick And Sicker: Essays On Class, Health and Health Care by Dr. Susan Rosenthal

TheStone

29th July 2013, 19:15

Clash of Extremes by Marc Egnal - a revival of the economic interpretation of the origins of the American Civil War. As for fiction, I am just getting rolling on (yet another) rereading of Moby Dick.

bcbm

30th July 2013, 18:19

finished 'anathem,' now i don't know what to read. kind of feeling like some military sci-fi or maybe a spy novel

darkblues

30th July 2013, 18:21

Comrade Jacob

30th July 2013, 18:26

I am re-reading the Origins of Family by Fredrick Engels. I'm about 3/4 of the way through, it's even more amazing now that I know more from the first time I read it. :)

Per Levy

31st July 2013, 01:43

finished 'anathem,' now i don't know what to read. kind of feeling like some military sci-fi or maybe a spy novel

have you ever read the "honor harrington: on basilisk station" novel? its military sci-fi, the space battle is very gripping and intense and very well written. on the other hand the book is also quite bad on several issues that made me almost want to quit reading it. two dimensional characters, an unsympathetical and unrelatable protagonist and some other things that i cant write about without spoiling stuff. its a mixed bag but the space battle and the middle part of the novel are very well done. do you know any good military sci-fi novels? cause i like reading those but i just dont know wich are good and worth the time and money.

anyway i've finished "a dance with dragons" another good read by martin, if you skip dany and quentin that is. reeks chapters were fantastic and the book, as a feast for crows does as well, is setting up all the characters for the end it seems to me. now the old man needs to write fast so he will finish the series before he dies.

also read a book about the munich soviet republic, pretty good stuff.

reading a book from karl korsch about marxism now, so far so good.

PC LOAD LETTER

31st July 2013, 04:06

finished 'anathem,' now i don't know what to read. kind of feeling like some military sci-fi or maybe a spy novel
Not really a military sci fi, but have you ever read Ringworld? Or maybe Dune ...

TheGodlessUtopian

1st August 2013, 23:27

Been going through the first volume of Mao's selected works. Also started a fantasy book called "Inferno of Life" (by an author whose name I cannot quite remember).

Comrade Alex

2nd August 2013, 00:31

Life of pie also reading capital for the first time

Hermes

2nd August 2013, 00:36

Reading a collection of poems by Muriel Rukeyser, as well as Consumption Intensified.

Brandon's Impotent Rage

2nd August 2013, 00:57

finished 'anathem,' now i don't know what to read. kind of feeling like some military sci-fi or maybe a spy novel

Have you read Ernest Cline's Ready Player One? That is one of the most fun novels I've ever read.

Anyway, I'm in the midst of reading The Communist Manifesto and Other Revolutionary Writings.

I really enjoy the way this book was put together. It actually does a really good job of showing how socialism is not some ideology alien to liberty, but in fact can be traced all the way back to some of the most famous thinkers of the enlightenment.

Dr Doom

2nd August 2013, 01:18

samuel beckett - waiting for godot

bcbm

2nd August 2013, 01:34

'the odessa file' by frederick forsyth

have you ever read the "honor harrington: on basilisk station" novel?

no, i will look into it though.

do you know any good military sci-fi novels?

i found jerry pournelle's 'falkenberg's legion' series, compiled recently as 'the prince (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prince_(Pournelle))' to be quite good if you can ignore some of the political ideas. decent characters and plenty of good military action, lots of it more conventional than most sci-fi usually does but in a good way.

Have you read Ernest Cline's Ready Player One? That is one of the most fun novels I've ever read.

i will check it out, thanks

The Intransigent Faction

2nd August 2013, 22:41

I'm about to start Sheila Fitzpatrick's The Russian Revolution. I don't know if it'll be any good, but we'll see...

Os Cangaceiros

3rd August 2013, 00:33

The Northern Ireland Conflict: A Beginner's Guide by Aaron Edwards and Cillian McGrattan

Not as interesting as some other books on the topic that I've read.

Also, I read a bunch of magazines.

^finished that. Reading "Armed Struggle: A History of the IRA" by Richard English. And "Drawing Support" (a book about murals in Northern Ireland).

Not reading any more on the subject after this. I'm northern Ireland'd out. I want to read something light and insubstantial.

bcbm

3rd August 2013, 00:42

^finished that. Reading "Armed Struggle: A History of the IRA" by Richard English. And "Drawing Support" (a book about murals in Northern Ireland).

Not reading any more on the subject after this. I'm northern Ireland'd out. I want to read something light and insubstantial.

i thought 'armed struggle' was the best of the books i read on the subject.

Goblin

3rd August 2013, 00:57

En Sjøens Helt - Skogsmatrosen by Jon Michelet. It´s a novel about norwegian sailors during WWII.

skitty

3rd August 2013, 01:31

bcbm

3rd August 2013, 18:15

Blackwater: The Rise Of The World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army

An acquaintance pushed this on me. I told him he was preaching to the choir; and I knew this outfit was rotten from the beginning. Maybe worth a read to find out that it is worse than you thought.

'soldiers of fortune: a history of the mercenary in modern warfare' by tony geraghty is a somewhat interesting examining of mercenaries/pmcs from someone who is more sympathetic and delves into a bit more history. a lot of the writing is pretty poor, but i found it to be worth slogging through at least some of it. the film 'shadow company' is a mostly neutral look at pmc's and also worth checking out.

The Intransigent Faction

5th August 2013, 03:42

Oh god this book is terrible:

All revolutionaries are enthusiasts, zealots; all are utopians with dreams of creating a new world...[they] are intolerant of disagreement; incapable of compromise; mesmerized by big, distant goals; violent, suspicious, and destructive.

She then goes on to say that Stalin's Purges were comparable to the Jacobin Terror, and, quoting some douche, asserts that they were 'the logical complement of Marxism'.

This is just the introduction, too. Fuck this.

Rugged Collectivist

5th August 2013, 04:39

Oh god this book is terrible:

She then goes on to say that Stalin's Purges were comparable to the Jacobin Terror, and, quoting some douche, asserts that they were 'the logical complement of Marxism'.

This is just the introduction, too. Fuck this.

Which book is it?

All revolutionaries are enthusiasts, zealots; all are utopians with dreams of creating a new world...[they] are intolerant of disagreement; incapable of compromise; mesmerized by big, distant goals; violent, suspicious, and destructive.

Actually that doesn't sound very inaccurate.

Zukunftsmusik

5th August 2013, 12:27

Have just started reading States of Emergency (http://libcom.org/history/states-emergency-cultures-revolt-italy-1968-1978) by Robert Lumley

En Sjøens Helt - Skogsmatrosen by Jon Michelet. It´s a novel about norwegian sailors during WWII.

Is it good? I've been meaning to read it, but my reading list is horribly long.

The Intransigent Faction

5th August 2013, 21:13

Which book is it?

Sheila Fitzpatrick's The Russian Revolution

Actually that doesn't sound very inaccurate.

That's strange, 'cause it is.

bcbm

6th August 2013, 04:10

'without vodka: adventures in wartime russia' by aleksander topolski

i don't think many of the marxist-leninists here would dig this book. i like that he is in a pretty miserable situation and manages to keep a sense of humor though. some good fart jokes as well

Goblin

6th August 2013, 22:42

Have just started reading States of Emergency (http://libcom.org/history/states-emergency-cultures-revolt-italy-1968-1978) by Robert Lumley

Is it good? I've been meaning to read it, but my reading list is horribly long.

Yeah, it´s really good. Michelet based the book on old letters and diaries from norwegian sailors, so you really get to see how it was like to be a sailor during the war.

The characters are all really great. The protagonist is only 18 years old, which kinda makes it a coming of age story. I love how he (and the other sailors) reacts to the news of the German of Norway. It´s pretty amazing to think about what these guys had to go through.

Fakeblock

6th August 2013, 22:48

The Lost Spring (Det forsømte forår) by Henrik Scherfig. Quite short, humorous novel about a group of schoolboys killing their sadistic teacher. Written by a communist too.

Zukunftsmusik

6th August 2013, 23:33

I'm also reading Dag Solstad's WWII trilogy, and a collection of his articles on literature.

Brutus

6th August 2013, 23:39

The state and revolution by good ol' Ulyanov; F.F. Ivanoffsky was what it was going to be published Under originally

skitty

7th August 2013, 02:10

Yeah, it´s really good. Michelet based the book on old letters and diaries from norwegian sailors, so you really get to see how it was like to be a sailor during the war.

The characters are all really great. The protagonist is only 18 years old, which kinda makes it a coming of age story. I love how he (and the other sailors) reacts to the news of the German of Norway. It´s pretty amazing to think about what these guys had to go through.A little off-topic; but I know a man who served on Norwegian submarines way back when and lived to tell the tale. Then spent his life at sea on merchant ships. He's in his 80's, and up to a few years ago was still sailing his sailboat(40 footer?) across the Atlantic. Amazing man!

Flying Purple People Eater

10th August 2013, 17:18

"American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World" by David E. Stannard.

Art Vandelay

12th August 2013, 03:39

'Love and Struggle: My Life in the SDS, Wheather Underground and beyond' by David Gilbert. Its fantastic, I have about 25 pages left and I started it maybe 2 days ago. I've found it hard to put down.

skitty

13th August 2013, 01:35

The Wind in the Willows! Finally got around to this "children's" book(a good fit for me); and it's lovely. Apparently a favorite of Teddy Roosevelt and A A Milne(Pooh). Also the source of Floyd's album title: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.

Gimbell

13th August 2013, 06:55

The Soviet Union in the Horn of Africa: The Diplomacy of Intervention and Disengagement

by Robert G. Patman

SonofRage

13th August 2013, 11:35

Marxism and Freedom by Raya Dunayevskaya.

I read it many years ago and am rereading.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4

bcbm

14th August 2013, 11:26

'brotherhood of warriors: behind enemy lines with a commando in one of the world's most elite counterterrorism units' by aaron cohen and douglas century

this book was really not worth my time

Rugged Collectivist

14th August 2013, 18:35

I started reading game of thrones.

Highly recommended.

Dr Doom

15th August 2013, 00:03

silvia federici - caliban and the witch

PC LOAD LETTER

15th August 2013, 05:06

I'm about halfway through Moby Dick. Taking a break to re-read Fight Club. I haven't read it in a few years. It's only like 200 pages, though. I'm already almost done with it.

Sixiang

15th August 2013, 19:15

Since my last post in January I have read a lot books. I'll try to pick out the really good ones:

Turning Point in China, by William Hinton: A good short introduction to Cultural Revolution historiography as it was in the early 1970s.

Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of Colonial New England, by William Cronon: A detailed and well-researched work of scholarship. This book is the sort of official beginning of U.S. environmental history. It is an amazing narrative of changing landscapes and changed my understanding of the English colonists and Native Americans forever.

Mao's China and the Cold War, by Chen Jian: A fairly balanced and understanding look at Mao's foreign policy. It focuses on specific special moments like the Korean War and the Taiwan Strait Crises.

China's Last Empire: The Great Qing, by William T. Rowe: Good introduction to Qing dynasty social, political, and cultural history. The most fascinating aspects to me were Qing acquisition of Tibet, Xinjiang, and Taiwan and ethnic policies in regards to Manchus, Mongols, and Han Chinese.

Down to Earth: Nature's Role in American History, by Ted Steinberg: A narrative introduction to U.S. environmental history. The chapters on the Southern slave plantation economy are revealing.

The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times, by Odd Arne Westad: Widely accepted as the best book out there on the 1970s and 1980s third world interventions done by the U.S. and USSR. Thanks to the author's knowledge of several languages, it is multi-sided and well-documented. The current status of third-world countries is explained as being linked to the late Cold War.

Nature's New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement, by Neil Maher: A fascinating account of environmental, labor, social, and cultural history of a famous New Deal program.

Mao Zedong: A Life, by Jonathan Spence: The first book I read in my summer research of Mao biographies. This is a good short intro if you want a short one.

Mao: The Real Story, by Alexander V. Pantsov with Steven I. Levine: I would recommend this biography of Mao if you are into reading as complete a book as possible. It's about 600 pages if you pay attention to the notes.

Was Mao Really a Monster? The Academic Response to Jung Chang and Jon Halliday's "Mao: The Unknown Story", edited by Gregor Benton and Lin Chun: If you ever read Mao: The Unknown Story, by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, read this book afterwards.

Mao Zedong: A Political and Intellectual Portrait, by Maurice Meisner: A deeply theoretical Marxist look at Mao's thought and policies.

The Thought of Mao Tse-tung, by Stuart Schram: The best of the best in my opinion on Mao's thought.

China and the United States, by John King Fairbank: Fairbank is the most famous U.S. historian of China. This book was written for the general American reading audience and introduces people to Chinese cultural traditions and how Westerners and Soviets tried and failed to change Chinese culture. It is a good intro for people wanting to understand Chinese culture.