What Are You Reading? VII

[RedAnarchist]

Continued from here as the last thread went over 500 posts - http://www.revleft.com/vb/you-readingi-vi-t179060/index38.html.

[Brutus]

Bonanno. Any and all Bonanno. Muh Italian bank robbers

[The Intransigent Faction]

This is gonna sound strange, but is there somewhere one can find Aleksei Gastev's poetry? It's disturbing and bizarre, but kinda morbidly fascinating.

[motion denied]

While I was taking a dump I grabbed Zizek's In Defense of Lost Causes and read the intro.

Might get to read it, seemed interesting.

[John Lennin]

'The Great Devaluation' by Ernst Lohoff & Norbert Trenkle

[DOOM]

'The Great Devaluation' by Ernst Lohoff & Norbert Trenkle

Is it good?

[John Lennin]

Is it good?
Very good!

[Brandon's Impotent Rage]

The Prophet Armed: Trotsky 1879-1921 by Isaac Deutscher.

Yep, I finally got my copy in the mail.....and fuck me if everyone wasn't right. I was engaged from the very first chapter.

[human strike]

Finished Q last week. Reading Fire and Flames: A History of the German Autonomist Movement by Geronimo now - pretty interesting. It feels great to be reading lots again; the commute to and from work gives me lots of opportunities now, guess it's what I needed - rarely manage to read except when I'm traveling. Got lots to get through I've been meaning to read for years. :)

[CommunistKid]

I got the book Three New Deals by Wolfgang Schivelbusch for my birthday recently. I'm about 2/3 of the way through it and it's really good.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

What did you think of Q? I though some of the parts in the middle dragged on a bit, but I liked it overall. I read The Stranger for the umpteenth time on the flight down here, I'm not sure what to read next.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

What did you think of Q? I though some of the parts in the middle dragged on a bit, but I liked it overall. I read The Stranger for the umpteenth time on the flight down here, I'm not sure what to read next.

I actually just finished Q as well - I enjoyed it except . . . well, to be frank, it was pretty damn misogynistic. Like, it failed the Bechdel test really hard, and women were used throughout as sexualized set-pieces.

I didn't find it dragging at all, but there was a certain strange disconnect - the first 3/4ths or felt like a tour through period heresies, while in the last chunk it suddenly became a spy thriller. Not bad, but strange.

Having read The Peasant War in Germany and Outlaws of the Sertão: Writings of Os Cangaceiros Vol. II, it was neat to read a fictionalized take on some period events which pointed to communist possibilities.

Anyway, on to How the Irish Became White.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

I can see your point, its been a couple years since I read it but I do at least recall the character of muntzer's wife/partner/whatever striking me as kind of off. I'm not particularly familiar with the reformation so I wasn't sure what to make of it at the time. The parts that I thought dragged were the banking parts, which I thought were just stretched out too much. I might read it again now.

[Brosa Luxemburg]

The Radical Will by Randolph Bourne (collection of his writings, highly recommend)
Lots of Allen Ginsberg poetry.
On The Road by Jack Kerouac
Stalin by Robert Service (interested, I know not many here have a favorable view of this book or author).
A Glorious Defeat: Mexico and it's War with the United States by Timothy Henderson (recommend highly).
The Making of a Counter Culture by Theodore Roszak

[Art Vandelay]

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Some BS textbooks for school.

[human strike]

I thought Q was brilliant, but I did find the portrayal of women as somewhat jarring and out of place. Find myself thinking, "Huh? Really?" a lot.

Reading the bits of Queering Anarchism that I haven't read before now.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

Started reading Blood Meridian

[Anarcho-Beaker]

Conquest of Bread-Peter Kropotkin and Capital Vol.1-Marx

[FieldHound]

Encyclopedia of Politics: Left and Right by Rodney P Carlisle
Economics: A Very Short Introduction by Partha Dasgupta
The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James
An A-Z of Marxism by The Socialist Party of Great Britain

[The Intransigent Faction]

Just when I was ready to give up on my local library, thanks to very thorough browsing of the online catalogue, I found "The Impossibilists: A Brief Profile of the Socialist Party of Canada". I am actually thrilled!

[TheGodlessUtopian]

"The Mill on the Floss" by George Elliot

"The Communist Neccesity" by Moufawad Paul

[n0si]

Revolutionaries by Eric Hobsbawm

Pretty neat-o I think.

[John Lennin]

Schwarzbuch Kapitalismus (The Black Book of Capitalism) by Robert Kurz

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

Some BS textbooks for school.

p. much this

[Chomskyan]

p. much this

I try not to read textbooks. I don't like being forced to read something. I'll do it when I do it. I'd rather read something like John Stuart Mill or Martin Luther King (or People's History and the Bending Cross which I have had no time to read lately). Seriously, boring and annoying.

In any case, in politics I am a boss, so there's no reason for me to read the politics textbook except to cite it in papers.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

yeah, i kinda want to not fail my classes. not reading is not really an option.

[Zukunftsmusik]

Juggling Capital (finally reached ch 14 after years of on-and-off reading), An introduction to Karl Marx by Jon Elster (it's so-so) and Death in Venice by Thomas Mann. And sort of The Dutch and German Communist Left, though it's been a while since I picked that one up.

[Art Vandelay]

'The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky,' which I started a couple days ago. I've also been reading some worker's vanguard, cause I recently got a large shipment of ICL materials in. Not reading any fiction at the moment, but as an early birthday present I ordered about 6 books for myself, so I'm just waiting for them to arrive. Probably going to start with 'Last Exit to Brooklyn' by Hubert Selby Jr once it gets here.

[Zoroaster]

"The Revolution of Everyday Life", by Raoul Vanegiem.

[Anglo-Saxon Philistine]

Innes, "State and Society in the Early Middle Ages". Interesting stuff, particularly on the nature of land ownership and the role of the comites, although the notion of "power" and "state" employed throughout the work is boringly anarchist.

[motion denied]

Thomas Münzer as Theologian of Revolution, by Ernst Bloch.

[Alexios]

Innes, "State and Society in the Early Middle Ages". Interesting stuff, particularly on the nature of land ownership and the role of the comites, although the notion of "power" and "state" employed throughout the work is boringly anarchist.

How so?

[Creative Destruction]

Started reading Blood Meridian

i'd like your opinion on it. the only criticism/review i've heard of it from a leftist was from Louis Proyect and he seemed a bit hysterical in his criticism.

[Creative Destruction]

p. much this

same. but i'm also finding some time to squeeze Stitched Up: The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion in. it's pretty interesting, seeing a Marxist analysis of the fashion industry.

[Brandon's Impotent Rage]

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie.

It's basically the big sci-fi book of the year, so I pretty much have to read it.

[Loony Le Fist]

I started reading Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State by Engles. The work is far ahead of it's time. It's still too feminist (for lack of a better word) for even modern standards, for many of the ideas presented to be argued and discussed rationally in mainstream discourse.

[human strike]

The Ethical Slut

[Brutus]

I've also been reading some worker's vanguard, cause I recently got a large shipment of ICL materials in.

I feel the urge to also do this. How did you go about it?

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

i'd like your opinion on it. the only criticism/review i've heard of it from a leftist was from Louis Proyect and he seemed a bit hysterical in his criticism.

Work has been getting in the way of real life so I'm only half way through. So far it's been brutal to read, but I don't feel that the protagonist is being glorified in any way. The actions he and his comrades take speak for themselves, the writing is beautiful which is in stark contrast to the events it's describing. I'll save any other judgments until the end though I guess. Do you have a link to Proyect's criticism?

[mojo.rhythm]

This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein

I'm especially enjoying her exposing of the Big Green NGO's and so-called "Green billionaires". They are a pack of vile hucksters, the lot of 'em.

[Chomskyan]

I'm reading The Routledge Companion to Social and Political Philosophy and Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr.

The latter doesn't sanitize King's radical message like the media/universities do. He was anti-war, anti-fascist, anti-capitalist, and he supported an "economic bill of rights" that would guarantee everyone a fair wage and a decent job, and he said that labor was the only thing that civilized our society. He also took aim at the John Birch society, claimed that right-wing Republicans supported racism in the South and that Fascism would be stoked by right-wing paranoia.

[motion denied]

that would guarantee everyone a fair wage and a decent job

such anti-capitalism tho

[CaptainCool309]

Senior year of High school crap has taken up most of my time, but I still try to read as much as I can.

"Red Rising" by Pierce Brown (My republican friend suggested it because he thought plot was "basically communist" so it'd be right up my alley)
"The Socialist Party of America" by David A. Shannon
"The Real North Korea" by Andrei Lankov
"Escape from Camp 14" by Blaine Harden
"The Politics Book" by DK publishing

[Creative Destruction]

Work has been getting in the way of real life so I'm only half way through. So far it's been brutal to read, but I don't feel that the protagonist is being glorified in any way. The actions he and his comrades take speak for themselves, the writing is beautiful which is in stark contrast to the events it's describing. I'll save any other judgments until the end though I guess. Do you have a link to Proyect's criticism?

http://louisproyect.org/2008/02/13/cormac-mccarthys-muscular-prose/ (where he goes into McCarthy generally)
http://louisproyect.org/2014/03/17/thoughts-on-a-counterpunch-article-paying-tribute-to-cormac-mccarthy/ (Blood Meridian, specifically)

i'm personally a fan of McCarthy's. i've read all of his books except for The Orchard Keeper. the main thing i find offputting in his writing is the lack of women in his novels who don't just act as background pieces (his novel Outer Dark is one of my favorites, because it is one of the few times he has a real, strong lead woman in his novel), and also his bleak nihilism, but he makes some insightful points in many different aspects and the fact that it is all couched in his beautiful writing is icing on the cake.

if you end up enjoying McCarthy generally, i'd suggest watching the episode of PBS' Vision show he wrote back in the 70s, called the Gardener's Son (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBcbjIyLZoU). that and The Stonemason (which is a play he wrote) are two really good pieces of working class art... where they examine class in society, through McCarthy's eyes. which, for coming from a southern petit-bourgeois background, isn't half bad.

[Zukunftsmusik]

his novel Outer Dark is one of my favorites

Outer Dark is one of my favourites too, and also one of the first books by him I read. Undecided whether this one or The Crossing is my absolute favourite, but I agree with the gender perspective here - as stunning as the whole Border Trilogy is (the first two in particular), there's certainly a stereotypical male adventurism thing going on. The Orchard Keeper is ok, but doesn't stand that well against the rest of his oeuvre IMO.


i'd suggest watching he episode of PBS' Vision show he wrote back in the 70s, called the Gardener's Son (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBcbjIyLZoU)

Wow, thanks so much for this!

[Chomskyan]

such anti-capitalism tho

He wasn't extremely critical of capitalism, but he did criticize it. He wasn't extremely far-Left as to advocate abolishing the wage system. He also praised certain aspects of capitalism.

The point I was making was that he was more radical than the ruling class would like us to believe he was.

[Red Son]

About to start 12 Years a Slave

Happy monday :crying:

[consuming negativity]

Punished by Rewards
by Alfie Kohn

http://www.alfiekohn.org/books/pbr.htm

Someone from RevLeft recommended that I read this book. I can't remember who it was, but it arrived in the mail today (finally).

[Magón]

Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano.

I'm rereading it that is, and it's still pretty good. Still true today, as it was back then, although there are some slight modifications in today's world. I highly recommend anyone interested in learning about the explotation of Latin America since the Conquistadors, to read it.

Also, if the name sounds familiar title or author, it's because Hugo Chavez made it popular by giving a copy to Obama back when the two met back in '09 or whatever.

[bcbm]

'broken angels' and 'market forces' by richard k morgan
'count zero' and 'burning chrome' by william gibson

[Palmares]

Magón[/COLOR] (http://www.revleft.com/vb/member.php?u=30079)]Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano.

That book is the inspiration for my username.

[Magón]

That book is the inspiration for my username.

Yeah, Palmares, the republic made up of escaped slaves. That was pretty cool.

[Zoroaster]

"The Myth of Sisyphus" by Albert Camus.

[Art Vandelay]

Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr.

[Palmares]

Yeah, Palmares, the republic made up of escaped slaves. That was pretty cool.

Not just escaped slaves. It was an alliance with indigenous people. The longest lasting of such an autonomous community in the face of colonisation.

[Magón]

Not just escaped slaves. It was an alliance with indigenous people. The longest lasting of such an autonomous community in the face of colonisation.

There were a lot of groups in the mix of course.

[Palmares]

Palmares was home to not only escaped enslaved Africans, but also to mulattos, caboclos, Indians and poor whites, especially Portuguese soldiers trying to escape forced military service.

Indeed.

[bcbm]

'things fall apart' by chinua achebe again, for school. enjoying it more this time i think since i'm doing more analysis.
'armed memory' by jim young, for fun. kind of cyberpunk if it was about genetics instead of cyberspace. fairly entertaining though the dude who compared it to 'neuromancer' on the cover blurb must have been high.

[Zoroaster]

"The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money" by John Maynard Keynes.

My brother recommended this, and I hate him now because of it. So bad...

[motion denied]

Since I was robbed by my own brother (the prick took Bloch's book with him - we live in different cities), I'm reading some Krisis' essays.

[The Jay]

I'm reading Against Domestication by Camatte.

[Art Vandelay]

Just finished up reading Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky today. Am currently working my way through some articles in Spartacist, then will be rereading Left Wing Communism an Infantile Disorder.

As for my non political reading, I recently finished Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr, which was a very interesting read to say the least. I quite enjoyed it. Currently reading The Walking Dead. Never been a big fan of comics, other than Calvin and Hobbes, but am enjoying this so far.

[Zoroaster]

"Lord of the Flies" by William Golding.

Woah.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

http://louisproyect.org/2008/02/13/cormac-mccarthys-muscular-prose/ (where he goes into McCarthy generally)
http://louisproyect.org/2014/03/17/thoughts-on-a-counterpunch-article-paying-tribute-to-cormac-mccarthy/ (Blood Meridian, specifically)

i'm personally a fan of McCarthy's. i've read all of his books except for The Orchard Keeper. the main thing i find offputting in his writing is the lack of women in his novels who don't just act as background pieces (his novel Outer Dark is one of my favorites, because it is one of the few times he has a real, strong lead woman in his novel), and also his bleak nihilism, but he makes some insightful points in many different aspects and the fact that it is all couched in his beautiful writing is icing on the cake.

if you end up enjoying McCarthy generally, i'd suggest watching the episode of PBS' Vision show he wrote back in the 70s, called the Gardener's Son (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBcbjIyLZoU). that and The Stonemason (which is a play he wrote) are two really good pieces of working class art... where they examine class in society, through McCarthy's eyes. which, for coming from a southern petit-bourgeois background, isn't half bad.

Sorry I'm responding real late to this. I finally finished it, but it was a real struggle. I actually read three other books in the meantime. The bloodshed was a little too much for me in my current state of mind. I liked the book and the writing particularly. The scene where they make gun powder with the help of the judge was one of the more epic ones that I've read anywhere. However I don't think I would ever read this book again, something about the combination of aesthetically pleasing prose combined with horrific slaughter really just did not sit well with me.

I read both of those articles, I didn't find myself agreeing with him on much but I really dislike proyect anyhow. His complaint about how aggressive the comanches were presented seemed particularly out of place. The story is taking place long after their culture had been decimated by Europeans and they've had all their leaders systematically killed off. They really did only know war at that point, and that obviously would be reflected. His complaints sound kind of patronizing honestly.

[Art Vandelay]

Last night I read Palo Alto by James Franco. Never been a big fan of his, but he has talent as a writer. Some of the stories were better than others and I felt the book could have been improved had he just tightened the plot and published it as a novel.

Today I read Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis. I quite enjoyed it and felt it was a good follow up to Less Than Zero. I thought it was interesting to see the progression of Clay as a character and the last line of the book was chilling and the perfect ending.

[Os Cangaceiros]

George Woodcock's biography of Proudhon.

Reading it for a report I have to do in school on Proudhon. Bakunin was my first choice but another student already chose him, surprisingly.

[Sinister Intents]

I'm reading Capital Vol. 1 for the fourth time, I think the information sticks a lot better, its so significantly less arduous of a read and flows so well! When I'm done I'll read the second volume afew times so it'll stick

[Ceallach_the_Witch]

reading Capital again

[Zoroaster]

"Beyond Good and Evil" and "The Geneaology of Morals" by Friedrich Nietzsche.

[human strike]

The Ethical Slut

[Le Socialiste]

"James P. Cannon and the Origins of the American Revolutionary Left: 1890-1928," by Bryan Palmer.

[GiantMonkeyMan]

Last night I read Palo Alto by James Franco. Never been a big fan of his, but he has talent as a writer. Some of the stories were better than others and I felt the book could have been improved had he just tightened the plot and published it as a novel.

Today I read Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis. I quite enjoyed it and felt it was a good follow up to Less Than Zero. I thought it was interesting to see the progression of Clay as a character and the last line of the book was chilling and the perfect ending.
You read super fast dude. I'm impressed and intimidated that you got through two books in two days.

I am currently reading Aesthetics and Politics which is a collection of essays from Ernst Bloch, Georg Lukacs, Bertolt Brecht, Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin all written during the 1930's debating expressionism, modernism and art and politics. It's really interesting and it's particularly fascinating given the context of Nazism and Stalinism etc. Unlike 9mm it'll probably take me like a fortnight or something to plough through.

I'm also sort of reading on and off Notes from the Underground by Dostoevsky but I'm finding it rambling and a little bit boring. Not a style I appreciate.

[Hermes]

Reading through The Canterbury Tales, as well as critical works on that and The Decameron, for a paper I'll be writing.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

I'm also sort of reading on and off Notes from the Underground by Dostoevsky but I'm finding it rambling and a little bit boring. Not a style I appreciate.

Do you know which translation you are reading? Some of them are truly awful. Pevear/Volokhonsky translations are much easier to read in general, although I have heard that they sometimes oversimplify the language. I don't know if thats really true or if the guy was just being a prick when he told me that haha.

[Brandon's Impotent Rage]

Magnificent Vibration.

Yeah, so Rick "Jessie's Girl" Springfield wrote a novel.

You wanna know the shocking part?

It's good. Like, really good. Like Kurt Vonnegut-tier good. It's funny, it's irreverent, it's deep. It's light-years better than it has any right to be.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

I was looking at that book and Amazon suggested that I might also be interested in his memoir. It has like 4 1/2 stars, what in the world could be so interesting about this guy? That was his only song right?

Anyway I might read that novel, I'm not sure why though.

[Zanters]

So, I've been reading a lot of dry communist works, what are some more fun and interesting works dealing with communism/ts?

[GiantMonkeyMan]

Do you know which translation you are reading? Some of them are truly awful. Pevear/Volokhonsky translations are much easier to read in general, although I have heard that they sometimes oversimplify the language. I don't know if thats really true or if the guy was just being a prick when he told me that haha.
It's a Penguin Classics translated by some dude named Ronald Wilks. No idea what that means in terms of quality. I literally just think it's a style that I don't enjoy rather than any particular issue with translation. There are first person works that I've really enjoyed but this is just not one of them. I'm sure there are a few gems within it so I'll keep slogging through bit by bit.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

Eh, if a book sucks I just throw it to the side, there's so much else to read there's no sense in forcing yourself through something. Just read the wikipedia synopsis :-P

Zanters, do you want a novel or just a lighter kind of non fiction?

[Zanters]

Either, I don't care.

[Art Vandelay]

@ Zanters

Out of the Night - Jan Valtin. The memoir of a German Communist active in the 3rd international throughout the 20's and through to WWII. Not only a great read for the light it sheds on revolutionary politics and situations, but also cause it reads like a spy novel.

Memoirs of an Italian Terrorist - Giorgio. The anonymous memoirs of a member of a radical left paramilitary group in Italy during the years of lead. Perhaps most interesting as a character study and the insight into what its like to live under ground.

Fiction wise I'd probably suggest anything by Irvine Welsh; last book of his I read was skagboys, which was brilliant, and a good place to start as it is the first installment of the trainspotting trilogy.

Hope that helps. Any of those would be a nice change of pace from more theory oriented stuff and the first two suggestions still deal with the radical left.

[keine_zukunft]

im reading the wretched of the earth by fanon.

[Le Socialiste]

"Revolutionary Teamsters: The Minneapolis Truckers' Strikes of 1934," by Bryan Palmer.

[Zoroaster]

"The Plague", By Albert Camus.

[ColumnNo.4]

Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 by Marx.

[Sixiang]

I started reading Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State by Engles. The work is far ahead of it's time. It's still too feminist (for lack of a better word) for even modern standards, for many of the ideas presented to be argued and discussed rationally in mainstream discourse.
I would agree that it was quite ahead of its time. Which version do you have? I read the Penguin edition not too long ago myself. I don't know how radical the book is now, though. He was basically advocating for serial monogamy, which we have quite widespread in the West now. Some feminists have charged him with sexism and his homophobia is undeniable. The feminist critique of the book seems to be based on this line by Engels: "As for myself, I must confess that I am more interested in the health of the coming generation than in absolute, formal equality between the sexes during the final years of the capitalist mode of production." And liberal feminists criticize him for not throwing support behind women's suffrage movements in his time. He appears to think in this book that sexual equality will return to humanity only once we abolish class society.


So, I've been reading a lot of dry communist works, what are some more fun and interesting works dealing with communism/ts?
I suppose that's a matter of interest. I was particularly touched by Richard Wright's autobiographical novel: Black Boy. He ended up leaving the CPUSA but remained a radical communist for the rest of his life, I think. I also really liked reading Helen Keller's autobiography, My Life. I read it after a spout of dry theoretical works and found it refreshing and inspiring. She was a member of the Socialist Party USA back in the Eugene Debbs days.


Lately I've been reading a lot of historical materialist theory. Particularly,
- The German Ideology, by Marx
- The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, by Engels
- Pre-Capitalist Economic Formations, by Marx with a great introduction by Eric Hobsbawm
- Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defense, by G.A. Cohen
- The Russian Revolution, by Leon Trotsky
- and now I'm on Theory as History: Essays on Modes of Production and Exploitation, by Jairus Banaji.

I also have spent some time reading Marx's articles on China and British imperialism in the 1850s, and Lenin and Trotsky's writings on China and Asia in general in the 1910s-1930s. All have been quite interesting.

[ColumnNo.4]

Lately I've been reading a lot of historical materialist theory. Particularly,
- The German Ideology, by Marx
- The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, by Engels
- Pre-Capitalist Economic Formations, by Marx with a great introduction by Eric Hobsbawm
- Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defense, by G.A. Cohen
- The Russian Revolution, by Leon Trotsky
- and now I'm on Theory as History: Essays on Modes of Production and Exploitation, by Jairus Banaji.

I also have spent some time reading Marx's articles on China and British imperialism in the 1850s, and Lenin and Trotsky's writings on China and Asia in general in the 1910s-1930s. All have been quite interesting.

The last book I finished was The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State. What do you think of it?

[Brosa Luxemburg]

Lonely Ideas by Loren Graham. Author is obviously a Reaganomics-influenced individual but her analysis is not exactly flawed, if problematic. I would recommend and recommend read with a critically accepting eye. Basically, Russia has birthed a number of intelligent innovators, yet they either were stifled in Russia or had to travel outside of Russia to truly develop their innovations to their most possible extent (from Tsarist rule to even now). Graham brings up interesting examples, such as the fact that Russians at first excelled in the production of guns, yet fell behind when their production was put mainly to "looks" and to be given as gifts to the friends of the Tsar or other statesmen rather than developing the most innovative and effective guns.

The Meaning of Marxism by Paul D'Amato. Basically the socialism of the ISO. I'm interested, introduction and the first chapter were interesting.

The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela. Novel about the Mexican Revolution, first social revolution of the 20th century. Haven't read enough to have a good opinion yet.

Anarchism by George Woodcock. So far i'm highly impressed 60 pages in. Best book on Anarchism i've run into so far.

The Social and Political Ideas of Michael Bakunin by Richard B. Saltman. A little repetitive, yet very good so far. About half way done. I like how it illustrates the point that the state is a specifically functioned institution, with a hierarchical bureaucracy defending ruling class interest, ideological covers through patriotism, religion, and other things to justify it's rule, etc. rather than just simply the typical anarchist and/or Marxist response of "organized violence" or "armed bodies of men."

The Debates of Liberty by Wendy McElroy. An analysis of American individualist anarchism through a periodical. Individualist anarchism is interesting, if overall I find it disagreeable. Basically, they conceived that a truly laissez faire, free market would not reward anyone not contributing to production. Therefore, landlords, capitalists, etc. would not earn anything. They claim the state distorts the market and protects the enrichment and exploitation of landlords, capitalists, etc. I disagree with the individualist anarchists, but it's cool to see the views of socialists who accept markets and even private property compared to this website where markets are just assumed to be bad in a way. (I agree with the dismantlement of the anarchy of the market, I just think it's assumed by many here that markets are bad without actually inquiring as to why).

[Creative Destruction]

http://www.hegel.net/en/pdf/Hegel-Scilogic.pdf

:crying:

[Bala Perdida]

I read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. It was okay. That's all I can really say about it.

[Rosa Partizan]

http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1341528337l/2004681.jpg

feminazi stuff

[Le Socialiste]

Ours to Master and to Own: Workers' Control from the Commune to the Present, a series of essays compiled by Immanuel Ness and Dario Azzellini.

[SonofRage]

Battle Royale

[Sixiang]

The last book I finished was The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State. What do you think of it?
I think it's one of Engels' most interesting works. It's from the period later in his life when he was trying to extend Marx's ideas into other areas besides history and economics. He was reaching out to anthropology in this book and presents an interesting history of marriage. I don't know how much his predictions of the future hold up. He discounts the notion of polyandrous love, thinking that people will continue to "naturally" choose to only have one sexual/romantic partner at a time. This is an understandable notion given his time and place. At times I tend to agree with him that any sort of "equality" movements under capitalism are moot because there can only be inequality under capitalism. So we should really just be trying to shoot for socialism anyways.


http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1341528337l/2004681.jpg

feminazi stuff
Looks interesting. Let us know how it turns out.


http://www.hegel.net/en/pdf/Hegel-Scilogic.pdf

:crying:
Good luck! I don't think I will ever try to read Hegel himself. I'll stick to second-hand accounts of him. I've heard he's so difficult to read.


I just read Matt Perry's Marxism and History. It's a decent little introduction to the application of Marxist theory to the study of history. It's not too long and I think it's a good book to recommend to beginners of Marxism that are particularly interested in its application to studying history. Because of its brevity, he chooses to leave out many Marxist historians, and his personal biases come through quite clearly. But I suppose if one wants to read about the others that he doesn't discuss in detail, he at least provides some recommended readings for the ones he didn't cover.

I thought Jairus Banaji's Theory as History, just published in 2011, is the most groundbreaking piece of historical materialist theory I have read since I first read Marx's 18th Brumaire of Louis Napolean! I think that all Marxists should try to at least read the introduction, conclusion, and several chapters of most interest from Banaji's book because it is so important. He mostly discusses pre-capitalist economic formations, which he prefers to call "complex trajectories." He points out Marx's own cultural influences that impacted his treatment of "free" and "unfree" labor, and provides wonderful analyses of all kinds of pre-capitalist societies from Medieval Europe to ancient Byzantium and rural India and imperial China. It's a stimulating albeit dense read.

[ColumnNo.4]

Recently finished Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 and started Wage-Labour and Capital and Value, Price and Profit by Marx.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

Just finished the third end notes, started reading the second altered carbon novel. It's been a struggle to read anything lately

[Le Socialiste]

Taking a break from the book I'm currently reading to go through a collection of essays, statements, and theses by Lenin: "On the Material and Technical Basis of Communism."

[Zoroaster]

"The Social Contract" by Jean-Jacques Rosseau.

[Creative Destruction]

Good luck! I don't think I will ever try to read Hegel himself. I'll stick to second-hand accounts of him. I've heard he's so difficult to read.

I'm still not sure I buy so much, just yet, into the idea that Hegel is required reading for all Marxists in order to understand Marx, but Hegel is definitely useful in providing a larger context to what he says.

Regardless, yeah, Hegel is difficult, but so is Marx, because the subjects seem to be so abstract, which is especially difficult for me because I'm an extremely literal person. But if you stick with the arguments, they slowly start to plug into how they're relevant to the material world. It took me about three readings of Capital in order to get a grip on it. They're both dealing with extremely difficult and intricate topics, so it would make sense that their work is difficult as well. I understand, though, the hesitance to dive into something so heady, but it's rewarding, as well. I think once you move past your fear of the difficulty, you'll find it opens up a whole new plane of thinking (as if you were reading Marx himself, instead of second-hand summaries... which have classically lead to disaster in actually understanding Marx.)

But you have to lay the foundation before you can get into the meaty arguments. It's like pouring concrete for and leveling a foundation for a house; hard, difficult, grueling work that is necessary before you start moving on to the other hard, difficult and grueling tasks.

[Sixiang]

I'm still not sure I buy so much, just yet, into the idea that Hegel is required reading for all Marxists in order to understand Marx, but Hegel is definitely useful in providing a larger context to what he says.

Who specifically argues that Hegel is required reading for Marxists? I haven't come across that before. I've only really read criticisms of Hegel: of his sweeping generalizations of all non-Western societies as stagnant and backward, that he was very religious and held idealist beliefs in the ability of Western philosophy to lead the world to an ever more progressive and lasting society that balances freedom and discipline. I find his generalizations of "Asiatic despotism" to be particularly worthy of criticism.

[Art Vandelay]

And the Hippos were Boiled in their Tanks - Jack Kerouac & William S. Burroughs

[Ceallach_the_Witch]

I'm considering buying 'Why Not Capitalism' by Jason F. Brennan - not because I really want to read it, but because I've had recommendations thrown my way in conversation and it seems to be regarded (in capitalist apologist circles) quite highly as apparently some kind of concise tour de force aiming to prove that capitalism is the best of all systems, even if we were to be morally perfect. Now, I seriously doubt this, and even if it is good, a 120 page book is unlikely to deeply challenge any of my beliefs. I'm posting this here to ask anyone else if they've read it and whether it's remotely worth reading as a consistent and thought-provoking view from 'the other side' or if it's just garbage produced for reinforcing some libertarian's confirmation bias.

I suspect rather strongly off the dot that it's the latter, Professor Brennan seems to fit the profile perfectly - he's straight, white and wealthy with a boner for voting and 'liberty' (aka property rights) and one of his books seems to be a tract about how actually, it's libertarianism that benevolently helps the poor. There's also this passage 'Brennan explains why voting is not necessarily the best way for citizens to exercise their civic duty, and why some citizens need to stay away from the polls to protect the democratic process from their uninformed, irrational, or immoral votes.'

puke.

E:

I also find it a bit interesting how almost none of his books (other than one which he co-authored) have any negative reviews at all - in fact most of them are filled with gushing praise and regurgitation of pretty tired soundbites about voting, the role of government and economics etcetera. Maybe I'll give it a miss after all.

[Brandon's Impotent Rage]

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time by Yasutaka Tsutsui.

[Sixiang]

I just read George Novack's Understanding History: Marxist Essays. I found his chapters on the role of the individual in history and the theory of uneven and combined development's applicability to the study of modern history in particular to be interesting. I thought that the former was really just an elaboration on Plekhanov's earlier essay on the subject, which has one major issue I think: it is yet to be explained how exactly one is supposed to know if the material conditions allow for a subjective push. He says that Lenin came at just the right time, when the material conditions of Russia allowed for the revolution to happen and he was the right leader in the subjective sense to push along the revolution. But there's no way, it seems, for Lenin to have known this himself until after the Revolution was won. It seems that everything can only be known in hindsight.

Even for the theory of uneven and combined development, he says that it only serves the function of understanding history. It cannot be used to predict the future. This is fine, but his chapter on the role of the individual in history seems quite weak to me. It seems that social change is beyond our comprehension until after it happens. Is this really true? I have my doubts.

If anyone has any recommendations for me that explain the issues I raise about the role of the individual in history, please let me know and I will be glad to check them out. Thanks.

[human strike]

I'm re-reading What Do Women Want? by Susie Orbach and Luise Eichenbaum. Taking the question that famously baffled Freud, it's a feminist psychoanalysis of women, relationships and dependency. It's one of the best books I've read actually - it radically impacted how I perceive and relate to women and also other men. I bought it as a gift for my mother and figured I might as well read it again since I'll have it for a little while.

I'm also reading Subversion of Politics: European Autonomous Social Movements and the Decolonization of Everyday Life by Georgy Katsiaficas.

[RedKobra]

Marxism and Ethics: Freedom, Desire And Revolution by Paul Blackledge. It seems to be about the dangers of the left adopting a non-materialist ethics.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

@Human Strike
If you haven't read Fire and Flames (https://libcom.org/library/fire-flames-history-german-autonomist-movement), it's a good companion to Subversion of Politics. It covers a lot of the same ground, but in a different voice and with different emphasis.

I just finished, today, Sisters and Saints - a book on women in American religion (it wasn't bad - it was very short/introductory) - and started The Black Jacobins which has been on my "to read" list for several years. I'm pretty stoked.

[human strike]

@Human Strike
If you haven't read Fire and Flames (https://libcom.org/library/fire-flames-history-german-autonomist-movement), it's a good companion to Subversion of Politics. It covers a lot of the same ground, but in a different voice and with different emphasis.


I read that last month and figured Subversion of Politics might be a good followup read. :)

[bcbm]

'so long a letter' by mariama bâ
'stranger in a strange land' by robert a heinlein
'antiquity' by norman cantor
'pattern recognition' by william gibson
'season of migration to the north' by tayeb salih
'the terror' by dan simmons

[The Disillusionist]

"The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" -Thomas Kuhn

[Hermes]

'so long a letter' by mariama bâ
'stranger in a strange land' by robert a heinlein
'antiquity' by norman cantor
'pattern recognition' by william gibson
'season of migration to the north' by tayeb salih
'the terror' by dan simmons

Could you tell me what you thought of Stranger in a Strange Land once you're done with it?

[SonofRage]

Could you tell me what you thought of Stranger in a Strange Land once you're done with it?

That's one of my favorite books.

Currently reading: Role-modeling Socialist Behavior by Karla Rab.

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

[Chomskyan]

People's History of the United States and I'm finishing Contemporary Anarchist Studies (Routledge).

[The Intransigent Faction]

I'm about halfway through The Trial by Franz Kafka.
It's a short read and it's enjoyable (reasonably suspenseful) so far.

[David Warner]

An Outline History of Chinese Philosophy by Xiao Jiefu and Li Jinquan
(A modern version of Lenin's Philosophical Notebooks and Materialism and Empirio-criticism)

[Art Vandelay]

Things I've read recently or am working my way through:

Lessons of October - Trotsky
A few editions of workers vanguard.
86'd - Dan Fante
Fante - Dan Fante
Waiting for Godot - Beckett
Glue - Irvine Welsh
Porno -Irvine Welsh
The Exterminator - William S. Burroughs

[bcbm]

Could you tell me what you thought of Stranger in a Strange Land once you're done with it?

sure. i wasnt super into it after the first section so i started reading something else. this gives me a good reason to go back and finish

[RedKobra]

Just finished 'The Establishment: And How They Get Away With It' by Owen Jones. Its a pretty decent exposé of British Corporatism, although its awash with the sort of misty eyed Old-Labour-as-historical-vehicle-for-Socialism revisionism that misses the systemic causes of corporatism, i.e - the Capitalst mode of production itself and its subsequent need for a state to do its bidding.

All that aside you could still enjoy the book right up until his concluding chapter when it all gets very wussy, essentially arguing for greater working class representation on corporate boards, essentially the democratization of Capitalism in general.

Owen's big problem is that he doesn't realise that he's not actually a socialist at all. He's not a bad guy he just suffers from the same delusion as the union bosses, that somehow getting to the point where we can negotiate the terms of our exploitation with the Capitalists on a level playing field will set us free. That isn't socialism. That isn't freedom. That isn't an end to exploitation.

Even if I could stomach that, and I'm not saying I couldn't the single biggest problem I have with that approach is the same criticism I have with the post war consensus which gave us the NHS, the welfare state.etc.

Its not permanent. The victories we win under that system will last only so long as the balance of power rests with the people and as we know in a Capitalist system power fluctuates to the beck and call of the economy. As and when the economy contracts the bosses will need to extract more value from the workers, the unions will acquiesce out of fear of job losses and before you know it we're back to square one.

The biggest flaw in Owen's vision is that the mechanisms that created Corporatism are still alive, alive and waiting for the material conditions of society to get to the point when the cycle can begin again.

[Sixiang]

I just finished, today, Sisters and Saints - a book on women in American religion (it wasn't bad - it was very short/introductory) - and started The Black Jacobins which has been on my "to read" list for several years. I'm pretty stoked.
That's been on my "to read" list for several years as well. Haha! Everytime I see it sitting on my book shelf I say "I need to read that" but then things just get in the way. Maybe I'll get to it around New Year's.

I just finished this book Marxism and the Call of the Future. It's in the form of a dialogue between Bob Avakian, chairman of the RCP-USA, and Bill Martin, a Marxist philosophy professor at Depaul University (don't know how that happened). There's a preface by Slavoj Zizek. Martin's introduction is really the best part of the book. The dialogues themselves range from funny to quite boring. There isn't much established in them except where these two stand on issues. Often times it takes them pages and pages to get to one simple point. They often keep coming back to the same points and get redundant at times. This book would be a whole lot quicker to read and more efficient if they had just organized each chapter with an explanation by each of their stance on the issue and then maybe a brief synthesis (no pun intended there) of the two. The book doesn't really give very many answers. The chapter on Sexuality and History and the very last one on Intellectuals and Revolution were probably the most interesting and informative chapters in the whole book. I think it was about 150 pages too long, however. So much is wasted by their redundant and interrupted half sentences filled with plenty of "like"'s and other filler words of conversational English.

[Hermes]

sure. i wasnt super into it after the first section so i started reading something else. this gives me a good reason to go back and finish

don't trouble yourself on my account!

the same thing, more or less, happened to me. it seemed like the book... lasted a lot longer than necessary? maybe i'm just an idiot, but they resolved the entire premise of the book about halfway in, and then started an entirely new plot, it seemed to me. i'd like to know whether i'm just an idiot or if at least a single other person thought the same

[zamen]

'Caliban and The Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation' by Silvia Federici.
Truly eye-opening.

[RedKobra]

Started I Am Pilgrim last night, decent so far.

[RedBlackStar]

Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism.

My crazy, ginger, communist History teacher recommended it to me because it shows the historical development of the ideology which I tie myself to and gives it an intelligent redefinition. Basically sacking off all the Individualist bullshit as not being Anarchist (although still acknowledging that, while Proudhon wasn't Anarchist, he had a great deal of influence; but so did Marx and Engels).

[Collective Reasons]

Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism.

My crazy, ginger, communist History teacher recommended it to me because it shows the historical development of the ideology which I tie myself to and gives it an intelligent redefinition. Basically sacking off all the Individualist bullshit as not being Anarchist (although still acknowledging that, while Proudhon wasn't Anarchist, he had a great deal of influence; but so did Marx and Engels).

Black Flame is good for going after the "seven sages" model of anarchist history, but it doesn't help much at actually recovering the early development of anarchism. In constructing a usable past for anarcho-syndicalism, they distort things in various ways themselves. It doesn't end up quite being history. Enjoy, but don't stop there.

[RedBlackStar]

In constructing a usable past for anarcho-syndicalism, they distort things in various ways themselves. It doesn't end up quite being history. Enjoy, but don't stop there.

What would you suggest reading for that?

[Collective Reasons]

What would you suggest reading for that?

If you want to read primary sources, maybe start with the first volume of Robert Graham's Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas. And you can also browse through my translations (http://blog.libertarian-labyrinth.org/working-translations/) to fill in around what Graham includes. For historical narrative, track down Max Nettlau's A Short History of Anarchism. It's available online (http://www.revleft.com/vb/zinelibrary.info/files/A_Short_History_of_Anarchism.pdf), but it's a bit of tome, so you may want a paper copy. I'm rereading parts of it right now, and having a blast, discovering things I missed on earlier readings.

[bcbm]

'americanah' by chimamanda ngozi adichie
'narcopolis' by jeet thayil
'the incendiary: the misadventures of john the painter, first modern terrorist' by jessica warner


don't trouble yourself on my account!

no trouble, i like reading and i would like to know what happens i just have a big stack of books that are more appealing to me at the moment, so its just going to live in the 'back burner' stack for awhile. something about the language in 50s/60s novels bugs me, it just all sounds really hokey.


'Caliban and The Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation' by Silvia Federici.
Truly eye-opening.

good book, but there is also some criticism (https://libcom.org/blog/witch-hunts-transition-capitalism-20122011) of it that its worth looking at too.

[BIXX]

'the incendiary: the misadventures of john the painter, first modern terrorist' by jessica warner
How is that?


good book, but there is also some criticism (https://libcom.org/blog/witch-hunts-transition-capitalism-20122011) of it that its worth looking at too.

To be fair I don't think that her incorrect statistics harm her argument too much, that capitalism from a feminist point of view is not inherently more progressive than feudalism (baedan makes the same argument, based off of hers, except regarding queers).

However there is another criticism of her work by baedan but it is in their second volume which ain't out yet.

[Sixiang]

Is anyone here on Goodreads? Send me a PM if so. I want to make some more friends on it, to have interesting people on my newsfeed and see what they are reading. :grin:

I'm starting Beowulf today. So far so good. I have never read it before. I figure I may as well since I have some free time now, it's short, and it's a classic of the English language if there ever was one.

[Red Commissar]

Trudging through Ulysses by James Joyce right now. I must say I haven't seen too many books where a poop scene was described.

[DOOM]

The Great Devaluation (Die grosse Entwertung) Trenkle/Lohoff
nice contemporary theory

[Lily Briscoe]

Some guy at the used bookstore kept talking to me about 'The Stranger' by Camus, which I finally agreed to buy, mostly to get him to stop talking (I've never read anything by Camus before but know a little about him and he isn't a figure I find particularly interesting).

I'm a few chapters in, and it's holding my attention but irritating me at the same time. It's got this really overdone 'tough guy' thing going on (not just in the story itself but also in the actual way that it's written). It's short enough that I'll finish it regardless, but I'm getting really tired of 'bro novels' and the fact that so many authors people rant and rave about don't seem to write anything else.

[consuming negativity]

The Revolution of Everyday Life by Raoul Vaneigem

http://library.nothingness.org/articles/SI/en/pub_contents/5

[Brandon's Impotent Rage]

"Diary of a Space Traveler" and Other Stories - Satyajit Ray

Yes, the famed Indian filmmaker was also a fairly prolific author of short stories and novels. He's actually considered a pioneer in regards to science fiction in the Bengali language.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

Some guy at the used bookstore kept talking to me about 'The Stranger' by Camus, which I finally agreed to buy, mostly to get him to stop talking (I've never read anything by Camus before but know a little about him and he isn't a figure I find particularly interesting).

I'm a few chapters in, and it's holding my attention but irritating me at the same time. It's got this really overdone 'tough guy' thing going on (not just in the story itself but also in the actual way that it's written). It's short enough that I'll finish it regardless, but I'm getting really tired of 'bro novels' and the fact that so many authors people rant and rave about don't seem to write anything else.


The stranger doesn't really shine until the very end, the way he interacts with the world is perplexing until that point. I've never thought of the main character as some macho douchebag, what makes you feel that way?

[Lily Briscoe]

For one thing, his total indifference to, and even passive support for, his friend (Raymond, the "procurer") beating the shit out of his girlfriend (he testified on his friend's behalf that this woman had cheated on him, so 'needed to be punished'). His complete emotional detachment from everything, e.g. his mother, his girlfriend (who, like every single woman in the story, are props rather than actual characters). But, to be fair, I didn't even say the main character was a "macho douchebag" (although he is), I was more criticizing the way the book is written.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

You're right about his friend's abuse I had forgotten about that part. Im not disagreeing I just hadn't thought of it that way. His actions don't seem overtly macho to me because he's totally detached from everything, not just his interactions with women. Even the pivotal act of the novel is detached from any explicit emotion on his part. He's a stranger in an alien world and his actions reflect that. Did you end up abandoning it after all?

[Lily Briscoe]

No, I only have a few pages left

EDIT: I finished it. Meh.


His actions don't seem overtly macho to me because he's totally detached from everything, not just his interactions with women. Even the pivotal act of the novel is detached from any explicit emotion on his part.That's exactly what I'm talking about, though.

[Zukunftsmusik]

To be fair I don't think that her incorrect statistics harm her argument too much, that capitalism from a feminist point of view is not inherently more progressive than feudalism (baedan makes the same argument, based off of hers, except regarding queers).

I think the question then is why she felt the need to exaggerate numbers which in the end can't be substantiated by her sources, even though she, as Joseph Kay of libcom (bcbm's link) says, probably took the research at that moment for granted. To actually have an argument that a certain historical development was so-and-so or meant this and that, you need sufficient data. Furthermore, I'm not sure that the view "that capitalism from a feminist point of view is not inherently more progressive than feudalism" (which I'm not sure is Federici's point, but it sure seems to be Bædan's) holds - capitalism have undeniably given e.g. rights to abortion, divorce, birth control, economic emancipation etc; neither is the argument (again presented by Bædan) that marxism simply views the development of capitalism as progressive, entirely true. To Marx and marxists capitalism is progressive, but as a theory it is entirely revolved around ruthless criticism of the present state of affairs - including gender relations - and its eventual end through revolution. Capitalism was progressive in a lot of respects, while all the same creating new oppressive and exploitative relations or simply taking over the old ones (e.g. slavery).

[RedKobra]

Started "Why Marx was right" by Terry Eagleton but put it down after a couple of chapters. Surprisingly badly written, considering the guy is a literature buff, and just incredibly dull.
Picked up History of the Russian Revolution by Trotskty instead, which is a personal favourite of mine.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

No, I only have a few pages left

EDIT: I finished it. Meh.

That's exactly what I'm talking about, though.

Well I'm not really disagreeing I just hadn't considered it. Is detachment associated with a tough guy persona in your mind?

[Lily Briscoe]

Not necessarily.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

Well if you're going to be all cagey about it...

[Lily Briscoe]

I wasn't trying to be "cagey", I just don't really know what else to say about it. Is being detached automatically indicative of a tough guy persona? Not necessarily, but with other factors taken into account (the domestic violence, the pimp, the apathetic murder, etc), I think that it was in the case of this story.

[BIXX]

I think the question then is why she felt the need to exaggerate numbers which in the end can't be substantiated by her sources, even though she, as Joseph Kay of libcom (bcbm's link) says, probably took the research at that moment for granted. To actually have an argument that a certain historical development was so-and-so or meant this and that, you need sufficient data. Furthermore, I'm not sure that the view "that capitalism from a feminist point of view is not inherently more progressive than feudalism" (which I'm not sure is Federici's point, but it sure seems to be Bædan's) holds - capitalism have undeniably given e.g. rights to abortion, divorce, birth control, economic emancipation etc; neither is the argument (again presented by Bædan) that marxism simply views the development of capitalism as progressive, entirely true. To Marx and marxists capitalism is progressive, but as a theory it is entirely revolved around ruthless criticism of the present state of affairs - including gender relations - and its eventual end through revolution. Capitalism was progressive in a lot of respects, while all the same creating new oppressive and exploitative relations or simply taking over the old ones (e.g. slavery).

Capitalism isn't what gave us this or that progressive gain, it just required a new form of domination, which is why all those people that retained some free aspects had to be colonized more thoroughly, as colonizing them was to colonize the future and tie their descendants into new social roles and whatnot. Also I don't think it can really be said that capitalism gave us abortion rights, birth control, etc just because those things happened during capitalism. Furthermore, I don't think capitalism gave women economic emancipation at all.

Also the argument isn't "that marxism simply views the development of capitalism as progressive" but that the viewpoint that it is progressive (even if it is to be critiqued heavily) is fundamentally untrue from some standpoints. Furthermore we reject the premise of progress itself, or rather, acknowledge it as not being what it is commonly accepted as being. Furthermore the Marxist notion of progress has to do with the continuation of civilization, which violently captures and dominates within its logic, either through communal human-factories or through physical manifestations of violence (such as the capture of foreigners by the first Lugals, which was the beginning of civilization(s).

[TheBigREDOne]

Recently finished Farwell, My Lovely.

[Counterculturalist]

In process:

Chris Hedges - Empire of Illusion
Either you like Hedges' fire-and-brimstone, near-apocalyptic denunciations of current-day society or you hate it. I have a soft spot for this sort of bombast. This is probably the most coherent and well-argued of his books, and although there's plenty to disagree with here (as is always the case with Hedges) - and occasionally an element of "no shit, Sherlock" - it's a good read.

Slavoj Zizek - Living in the End Times
This is my first real encounter with Zizek, and I agree with both the accolades and the condemnation that he gets. The premise of the book - that people are reacting to the demise of capitalism in a way that corresponds to the five stages of grief - is an interesting one, and he makes lots of solid points along the way, but he often gets bogged down in impenetrable nonsense. Still a heck of a lot more entertaining and accessible than the most egregious of academic writing.

Christopher Fuchs - Foundations of Critical Media and Information Studies
Used this for a paper I wrote, and I'm trying to plow through the rest of it. I like the fact that he goes directly to Marx for a lot of arguments (and was surprised to see that he also draws on the likes of Lenin and Luxemburg.) The downside is that the writing style is excruciating.

[Lily Briscoe]

Re the Federici stuff, I saw that libcom thread awhile back and was kind of disappointed. I know some people who are very much on the Federici bandwagon, and Caliban has been on my mental 'to read' list for a long time, but political writing is hard enough for me to get through as it is, and that thread kind of killed my desire to bother with that book. I know that I should anyway, but eh

Anyway, now I'm onto 'Orlando' by Woolf and am about halfway through. It's the last of her major novels I had left to read, and - as always with her books - I have absolutely no idea why I like it, but I do.

[bcbm]

How is that?


good so far, i think she constructs a good narrative about the man and his times.

[Lily Briscoe]

Somebody earlier in this thread mentioned Joyce, which reminded me that I'd started reading Dubliners a couple years ago but wasn't really in a 'reading phase' at the time, so lost interest after the first story. Checked it out from the library today for attempt #2 (so far so good)

[bcbm]

'worm; the first digital world war' by mark bowden. the story seems like it will be interesting but the author's writing style is just awful and way too over-the-top sometimes. i read one of his other books and i don't recall it being this bad. also lots of x-men references for some reason?

[Palmares]

Cool kids read comix didn't ya know? And we spell comix the propa way too.

[jharrison]

My first post:

I am reading at present


Robert Duncan: The Ambassador of Venus, Lisa Jarnot

and

Fidel's 'spoken autobiography'


both great books

[socialistlawyer]

ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications. Reason? So that I can design bug transmitters which I clandestinely plant on suspected government agents in the Communist Party of Canada. It's successful so far and it's lawful eavesdropping. Why? They got no warrant to spy on the Party. There was before but I had some lawyer challenge them invoking the Charter of Rights. Success!

[CaptainCool309]

I'm a busy fella, and I can never commit to reading just one book at a time... So everyday I basically read 1-3 chapters from all of the books I'm reading. And over the course of a few weeks the chapters add up and I finish each book individually...eventually.

For the lolz: :tt2:
I am America (And so can you!) by Stephen Colbert.
The Mystery of the Disappearing Cars by Cora Cheney
The Men's Health Big Book on Getting Abs by Adam Bornstein
Superman: Red Son by Mark Millar

On religion, psychology, and mythology:
The First Christmas by Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan
The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
The Power of Myth by by Joseph Campbell (with Bill Moyers)
Words made Flesh by Sister Franz Ferder

On politics and economics:
Tito's separate Road by John C. Campbell
Germany: East and West by Sabra Holbrook
Economix by Michael Goodwin (Illustrated by Dan E. Burr)

[Rosa Partizan]

I'm reading a book and a magazine

That's the book

http://feministcurrent.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Screen-Shot-2014-01-20-at-5.43.23-PM.png

and that's the magazine, it's translated sth like "crisis and critique of consumer society", published by German value criticism theorists.

http://www.exit-online.org/html/bilder/exit12.jpg

[hiac]

I have started with Naomi Klein's This changes everything: Capitalism vs Climate Changes.

This position is recommended strongly for everyone.

Climate changes will happen, next 3-5 years we will witness them. Storms, floods, hurricanes, heat waves, winter without snow (like now in Europe), low crops, high prices.

Of course, as writers says, when it is going to be bad, it's better for the case. But Klein is more ethical, and humanistic person that I could imagine.

She says, whether we do something or do nothing, climate changes. Now we can cooperate to change political, social and technical world to withstand changes or we are going to face dystopian, capitalistic new world order.

I haven't finished yet, but it is very leftist view, in my humble opinion.

[Ismail]

No Colours or Crest by Peter Kemp, continuing my efforts to read stuff on Albania; in this case a British officer's memoirs of service in the country during WWII.

As with two other memoirs I've mentioned in prior threads (Illyrian Venture (http://www.revleft.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2532141&postcount=345) and Albanian Assignment (http://www.revleft.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2524171&postcount=314)), Kemp's politics were quite reactionary: he served in Franco's forces in the Spanish Civil War. Still it's a pretty good read, and once again an example is given of Albanians being confused about what "Royal" meant as a military designation (from pages 139-140):

"On one occasion, after I had left the country, a certain British Liaison Officer prepared, at the request of Enver Hoxha, a list of the names and regiments of British officers in northern Albania. The list read something like this:

Lieutenant-Colonel N.L.D. McLean, The Royal Scots Greys.
Major David Smiley, The Royal Horse Guards.
Major Richard Riddell, The Royal Horse Artillery
Captain Anthony Simcox, The Royal Horse Artillery.
Captain The Honourable Rowland Winn, 8th King's Own Royal Irish Hussars.

When he came to read it to the Central Council [of the National Liberation Front] the British officer noticed that at each mention of the word 'Royal' Enver Hoxha shot a significant glance round the table at his colleagues, who all nodded in understanding: officers from such regiments must obviously be reactionaries and Fascists. With a disarming smile the B.L.O. ended his recital: 'But my regiment is the Manchester Regiment—the People's regiment!'"

[Brutus]

Serge's memoirs.

[Zoroaster]

"The Wretched of the Earth", by Frantz Fanon.

[Art Vandelay]

Nothing...cause its New Years and I'm drunk...dorks...

[Red Eagle]

A People's History of the World by Chris Harman, great book that analyzes history in a marxist way.

[bcbm]

'wilderness at dawn: the settling of the north american continent' by ted morgan

[Ismail]

Che's Congo Diary (Ocean Press, 2011), which begins with him writing "This is the story of a failure." From April to November 1965 he tried to organize a competent guerrilla army in the eastern portion of the Congo, but was up against not just a decently-trained neo-colonial army and white mercenaries, but the guerrilla fighters themselves, many of whom were constantly fleeing from the mildest battles, accidentally breaking important equipment or losing it in an attempt to flee faster, succumbing to superstition (e.g. believing that digging trenches was akin to preparing for your own burial), and the political tensions between various figures involved in the struggle. Despite all this Che is also self-critical, pointing out instances where he screwed up preparing for defenses and whatnot.

I have an interest in Africa and particularly the Congo so even though reading about guerrilla warfare isn't particularly exciting to me, I was able to keep an interest through the pages.

Excerpt, pages 28-29: "Lieutenant-Colonel Lambert explained with a friendly, cheerful spirit that airplanes had no importance for [the guerrillas] because they had dawa, a medicine that makes a person invulnerable to bullets. 'I've been hit a number of times, but the bullets simply fell to the ground.' He said this with a smile on his face, and I felt obliged to respond to the joke, which I saw as a sign of how little importance they attached to the enemy's weapons. But I soon realized it was meant seriously, that the magical protection of dawa was one of the great weapons of triumph of the Congolese army....

This belief is so strong that no one goes into battle without having the dawa performed on them. I was constantly afraid that this superstition would rebound against us, and that we would be blamed for any miliary disaster involving a lot of casualties. I tried several times to discuss the dawa with those in leadership positions in an effort to win people away from it—but this was impossible. The dawa is treated as an article of faith. Even the most politically developed argued that it is a natural, material force and that they, as dialectical materialists, recognized the power of the dawa, whose secrets lie with jungle medicine men."

[Le Socialiste]

"Leon Trotsky and the Organizational Principles of the Revolutionary Party," compiled and edited by Dianne Feeley, Paul Le Blanc, and Thomas Twiss.

[Zoroaster]

Finally got around to Capital, Volume 1.

[The Intransigent Faction]

"Punished By Rewards" by Alfie Kohn. It's pretty damn good and I enjoy his sense of humor!

[Asero]

-Terrorism and Communism by Leon Trotsky. I'm writting a Marxistpedia article on this book, and it's a great counter-balance towards common Trotskyist "libertarianism"
-Lenin Rediscovered: What is to be Done by Lars Lih. I've read Lih's Critical Lives book on Lenin and I like Lih's image of Lenin being an orthodox Erfurtian in contrary to popular academic perception of Lenin being an "unconcious revisionist" revolutionary pessimist. (But I do think Lih stresses Lenin's belief in leadership a bit too much)
-A Brief History of Neoliberalism by David Harvey. I used to be a Libertarian, so this book intrigues me.
-State and Revolution by Lenin. I'm rereading it. I plan to make an article on Marxistpedia on this next.

[Vogel]

Just finished 1984. Its was amazing. Such a strong feeling of dread and mental fatigue, not from the book or its writing, but from the way its plot makes you feel. Its revelatory.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

I enjoyed 1984 but I can't see myself reading it again. When I think of that novel what comes to mind are gross washed out colors for some reason, very unappealing.

I'm reading Red Cavalry, I like it so far.

[Comrade Nymoen]

I am reading one book in Norwegian, it's called Mao's Rike (Mao's Empire)

[Ro Laren]

The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves

Haven't read fiction in a while. I saw the show based on it last week and got hooked.

[jan128]

The Hunger Games.

I saw the film and I liked it

[Art Vandelay]

Currently working my way through a binding of James Cannon's 'struggle for a proletarian party,' along with letters exchanged between comrades in the 4th, an essay by George Novack, as well as internal documents/bulletins in the SWP (US). I'm finding it fairly interesting so far.

[bcbm]

'matter' by iain m banks

[motion denied]

Empire of Capital, by Ellen Wood. Dope.

[Art Vandelay]

Last week I read through a few Dan Fante books (chump change, mooch, spitting off tall buildings), and this week Ive decided to switch to the work of his father. Currently reading 'ask the dust' by John Fante and will probably move onto something else in the Bandini saga once I finish this up.

[The Intransigent Faction]

Russell Brand's book Revolution.

I wasn't really all that keen on reading it, but I got it as a birthday gift and I'd finished Alfie Kohn's wonderful book "Punished by Rewards".

It's all very eloquent and I have somewhat of a soft spot for the man. It's a funny combination of an autobiography and a polemic. It's also, however, a hit-and-miss mixture thus far of New Age spiritualist obscurantism and damning statistics and arguments against the capitalist system and the notion that "there is no feasible revolutionary alternative" (if anything, as he repeatedly argues, revolution is being demonstrated to be more and more necessary). Perhaps one thing worth learning most of all from him is his style of presentation. Maybe his silliness enters awkward territory at times, but often it seems more charismatic or attention-grabbing than the way dedicated leftists have said many of the same things (though ironically he quotes someone at the start of the book as saying "Charisma is the ability to influence without logic").

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

I re-read Theory of Bloom and the Cybernetic Hypothesis after the catechism of the revolutionary thread the other day. I'm still working my way through Red Cavalry. I like the structure of the book and the writing is awesome, the characters themselves are..complex. Which is to say a lot of the Cossacks come off as complete scum, I know babel took some artistic liberties with his reporting but it's supposed to be based mostly on reality. A troubling book.

[BIXX]

I re-read Theory of Bloom and the Cybernetic Hypothesis after the catechism of the revolutionary thread the other day. I'm still working my way through Red Cavalry. I like the structure of the book and the writing is awesome, the characters themselves are..complex. Which is to say a lot of the Cossacks come off as complete scum, I know babel took some artistic liberties with his reporting but it's supposed to be based mostly on reality. A troubling book.
I'm actually probably gonna finish the theory of bloom today or tomorrow, honestly I'm not too impressed.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

What don't you like about it?

[BIXX]

I'm not so much disappointed in the theory as the writing itself. Like, I feel its a simple theory they felt the need to dress up with a lot of pretty sentences. Plus they'll say one thing then contradict themselves just paragraphs later. Idk. I think I'm understanding it more or less, but the writing itself is lacking imo.

Honestly though to be fair, I'm not much of a tiqqun fan.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

Oh yeah, they definitely have a certain idea in mind with their writing style. I really hated it initially, but it became enjoyable to read at a certain point. I've always wondered if it made more sense in French. I think the subject/nonsubject they create is meant to be contradictory though, Bloom can't really exist, regardless of whether or not his creation was intentional. Bloom is wholly subsumed in the contradiction of capital to the point that he has internalized it in himself. Like capital he is eternally headed for crisis. In response he either delves deeper into spectacle or sacrifices himself to it in equally spectacular fashion. Tiqqun wants to create a third option where Bloom frees himself, or rather where the world becomes Tiqqun

[Ismail]

Just finished reading The OSS in World War II Albania, which is basically the only published work on the subject. The American OSS mission, unlike its British SOE counterpart, was far smaller yet had an important advantage in that it could count on Albanian-Americans who came from the same regions as the partisans unlike the British officers, all of whom were, well, British and didn't speak Albanian. Both missions were also at odds with each other, with the British resenting the Americans' superior access to partisan leaders and the Americans complaining of the elitist attitudes of the British and their unwillingness to share intelligence between them. That being said the OSS, like the SOE, was not fond of the partisans and worked with anti-communist forces when possible.

Page 110 excerpt, OSS agent "Niko" Kukich was drinking tea with a British Major in the latter's tent, and the Major went outside:

Ever suspicious of the British, Kukich flipped through the notebook and came across a reference to Hoxha and the three-member delegation that Hoxha had sent to the conference in Bari [to discuss military and political matters with the British.]

However, Lyon did not refer to Hoxha and the delegates by name in his notebook. Instead he referred to Hoxha as Goldilocks and Hoxha's three delegates as the Three Little Bears, Papa, Mama, and Baby Bears. Kukich made note of the reference. "I said to myself, 'This is just another example of the British playing with people.' It was a joke to them. papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear. Hoxha was a joke to them. They looked down on Hoxha and the Albanian people. They mocked them," Kukich said.

Kukich met with Hoxha with only Frederick Nosi [an interpreter] present. He told the Albanian lealder what he had learned. "Hoxha was furious," Kukich said. "His face flushed and turned red. 'Goldilocks and the Three Little Bears?' He slammed the table. 'They are making fun of us. They don't understand what we have been through,' he said. He was really mad. I had never seen him so mad... Lyon later came up to me and told me how angry Hoxha was with him and the British. He couldn't figure out why. I pretended I didn't know anything about it. I was so upset with the way the British treated Tom [another OSS operative] and me that I didn't care. We kept information from them, and I know they kept information from us," Kukich said.Page 184 excerpt months after the war, Kukich was due to leave Albania in a few days since OSS men were being replaced with American civilian personnel:

Earlier in the day Kukich had visited Hoxha at his office in order to pay his respects. Kukich brought with him a half-pound bag of beans he had brought in the market. Hoxha had recently ordered the installation of hundreds of sharpened wooden stakes around the Tirana Airport. He had his soldiers plant the stakes in the ground like beanpoles. The idea was to thwart any landings by British paratroops that Hoxha thought might invade his country. The Cold War had begun and Hoxha had chosen the other side.

"I poured the beans out on Hoxha's desk and told him that we should plant the beans out at the airfield and split the profits when they grew up the poles. We could be partners, fifty-one per cent for me and forty-nine per cent for him. He laughed. He liked a good joke. 'Niko, Niko, what am I going to do without you?' he said. He told me I should take the beans with me and plant them in America because I was the capitalist, not him."

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

When I Was a Slave: Memoirs from the Slave Narrative Collection
The Monkey Wrench Gang
Deep Breath, Hold Tight

[Ilstar]

Wow, you are all so well-read on this forum. It's impressive. I am currently reading the second volume, of 55, that Lenin wrote:
Ленин, В.И. (1967). Полное Собрание Сочинений (5-е издание). Москва: Издательство Политической Литературы.

I will write when I finish the whole collection. I wonder how long it would take me...

[FarewellToKings]

Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution- Peter Kropotkin
Leaves of Grass- Walt Whitman
The Analects- Confucius
Lots of Poetry- (Keats, Tennyson, Wilde, Browning etc.)
Other short Anarchist and Marxist documents, pamphlets, and essays

My plate is a bit full right now.

[bcbm]

'under the feet of jesus' by helena maria viramontes
'everything begins and ends at the kentucky club' by benjamin alire saenz
'mona lisa overdrive' by william gibson

[Brandon's Impotent Rage]

I'm on the last third of The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (translated by Ken Liu, a fantastic author in his own right).

It takes a truly great science fiction author to be able to take complex scientific and mathematical ideas, and make them relatively simple to understand, ON TOP OF writing an engaging story.

[Cutter]

Anne Rice's Prince Lestat--Vampire Chronicles.

[Abolitionist]

I'm currently in the middle of reading The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class by Guy Standing.

[bcbm]

'shogun' by james clavell
'the boy kings of texas: a memoir' by domingo martinez

[Art Vandelay]

Bound for Glory - Woody Guthrie

[motion denied]

Heinrich Heine

dude was legit

[Zoroaster]

"The Prophet" series by Isaac Deutscher.

I'm 200 pages into the first book, and I'm blown away by how good it is.

[Artiom]

Prison of Poverty by: Loïc Wacquant

About how the neo-liberal idea's of how to run (and exploit) the penal system has won ground around the world.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

The Good Soldier Švejk and My Disillusionment in Russia

[i0_]

I just finished David Harvey's "Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism", I started "Marx's Concept of the Alternative to Capitalism" by Peter Hudis last week, and I've been working through Capital Vol. 1. Pretty par for the course around here I'd imagine.

I also just picked up Noam Chomsky's "Masters of Mankind" yesterday.

[bcbm]

'the brief wondrous life of oscar wao' by junot diaz
re-reading 'meditations' by marcus aurelius again
still working on 'shogun,' about a quarter left

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

What do you think of the brief wondrous life of oscar wao? I wanted to like it but the way he wrote the dialogue drove me crazy.

[1xAntifa]

E.P. Thompson The Making of the English Working Class and Whigs and Hunters - The Origins of the Black Act.

Both classics, the struggle for workers rights and democracy remains topical. Ever wonder where the 1% want to take us and what we need to do to resist? These volumes are essentially about government repression, the political,legal, military, class interests and ideological weapons they use, and the difficulties of organisation in the face of repression. Does this sound familiar. I wholeheartedly recommend both volumes.

[RedSeppoku]

I'm pretty new to Socialism, so, in an effort to educate myself, I'm reading "Socialism: Past and Future" by Michael Harrington. I haven't completely read it, but for those of you who have, do you think it serves as a effective dissection?

[1xAntifa]

The Ethics of Insurgency A Critical Guide to Just Guerrilla Warfare Michael L. Gross 2015 Cambridge University Press.

A thought provoking volume on how to avoid winding up an international criminal when conducting guerilla warfare. Essential reading.

[motion denied]

Just found Aesthetics and Politics that Counterculturalist was reading.

hooray for old book shelves

[Brandon's Impotent Rage]

A bunch of books by Jo Nesbø I found at the used bookstore. He's very quickly become my favorite non-SF author. His Harry Hole novels have the same degree of character study and social commentary as Stieg Larsson's books, but not quite so anvilicious.

Also, trying to wrap up the first volume of the Prophet trilogy.

[Cliff Paul]

The Anarchists of Casas Viejas by Jerome Mintz

[motion denied]

Just found Aesthetics and Politics that Counterculturalist was reading.

hooray for old book shelves


Bloch makes Lukács looks like as such a dork lmao

[bcbm]

What do you think of the brief wondrous life of oscar wao? I wanted to like it but the way he wrote the dialogue drove me crazy.

i like it a lot so far. i like the narrative shifts and historical digressions a lot, keeps a nice pacing.

[1xAntifa]

SHARP’S DICTIONARY OF POWER AND STRUGGLE LANGUAGE OF CIVIL RESISTANCE IN CONFLICTS Gene Sharp Senior Scholar Albert Einstein Institution with the assistance of April Carter and Bruce Jenkins

A treasure trove of peaceful techniques.

[Ele'ill]

had recently found a hard copy in good condition of the coming insurrection so I read that again yesterday. I really think having a legit copy makes a difference because the breaks in it seem to be the natural ones and not the bad formatting that happens with internet txts, it was much easier to follow thoughts. I also like that text a lot, this isn't the first time i've read it but it is the first time i've read it all in one sitting.

[bcbm]

'latro in the mist' by gene wolfe
'adios hemingway' by leonardo padura fuentes

[mushroompizza]

Siddhartha

[Asero]

I've been reading Ernst Mendel's introduction to Capital, and I'm trying to get books by Hegel.

[Ele'ill]

I did some forum searches for insurrectionary stuff and found a few things that other users suggested in threads from long ago. There's actually some really useful conversation too.

[1xAntifa]

Grasping the nettle...Capital Volume One. There appeared to be way too much math in it during my youth [I was algebraically challenged until my forties]. The EP Thompson's I read earlier this year are responsible for digging my copy of Capital out of the Marx pile.

Query is there a standard edition or will any reasonable edition do? Mine's the Modern Library edition edited by Max Eastman nd. I'd rather invest my time in a decent translation if this edition is under par. Recommendations appreciated. Speaking of which, time to crash and read a chapter before zzzz.

catch ya

[Cactus]

I don't know if this thread is mean't to be aimed at books on politics/economics but I've just started Carl Sagan's The Demond-haunted World, seems interesting.

[bcbm]

I don't know if this thread is mean't to be aimed at books on politics/economics

nah its just whatever youre reading.

[AidanChrist]

My life - Trotsky
A variety of pamphlets and articles
Origin of the family - Engels

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

The Way of the Pilgrim and the Pilgrim Continues His Way

[Ele'ill]

barbarians: the disordered insurgence

Hostis

[#FF0000]

Reading:

The Iron Council by China Mieville
On Guerilla War by Mao Tse-Tung.

I was surprised to find out that the latter is actually considered a good military treatise.

[Ele'ill]

a critical metaphysics could emerge as a science of aparatuses- its a really good second section of tiqqun's this is not a program, its an easy read, the type of text you'd want to sit down on your 10min break at work and just breeze through.

[bcbm]

'men without women' by ernest hemmingway

[Ele'ill]

Communization its discontents, contestation, critique, and contemporary struggles.

https://libcom.org/library/communization-its-discontents-contestation-critique-contemporary-struggles

sic - international communisation journal

http://sic.communisation.net/

[BIXX]

Upon recommendation by Mari3L I started the sic journal. I am enjoying it.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

Slowly making my way through Kafka On the Shore. Also came across my copy of The Dialectic of Sex so I started reading that again. I haven't really been into political writing for the last couple of weeks so I'm kind of hoping this will knock something into place for me.

[Ro Laren]

By Any Means Necessary - Malcolm X

[Asero]

What I'm reading (in order)
Wage-labour and Capital/Value, Price, and Profit - Karl Marx
Political Economy - John Eaton
Studies on Marx and Hegel - Jean Hyppolite
Introduction to the Reading of Hegel - Alexandre Kojeve

What I plan to read after I finish these books
Science of Logic - Hegel
Capital Volume 1 - Marx

[Art Vandelay]

Just finished up rereading dance of the dialectic by bertell ollman. Now I'm onto eros and civilization by herbert marcuse.

[Comrade Njordr]

'The Essential Works of Lenin'.

[Comrade Jacob]

This thread.
I iz smart ass.

[The Intransigent Faction]

Slowly making my way through Kafka On the Shore. Also came across my copy of The Dialectic of Sex so I started reading that again. I haven't really been into political writing for the last couple of weeks so I'm kind of hoping this will knock something into place for me.

I just started on The Castle and also picked up a copy of Capital at the library. I'm going on a trip in a week and knowing me there's no way I'll finish them both before then, but I had to get back into a routine, too.

[Brandon's Impotent Rage]

Quick Draw - Shu Ejima

Imagine if Robert Rodriguez was Japanese, and he wrote novels instead of making movies.
That's this book.

[MarxSchmarx]

"What is to be done" by Lenin. I had read imperialism when I was 15, fell in love with Lenin the writer then, but never read this work until now.

[Anglo-Saxon Philistine]

Just started reading "Settlement and Social Organization: the Merovingian Region of Metz", by G. Halsall. Finished reading "The Archaeology of Mediterranean Prehistory", edited by E. Blake and A. Knapp. An interesting collection, and I learned a lot, but I found the chapter on "gender archaeology" to be pretty appalling. It's full of stuff like this:

"Tringham follows a slightly different path by fashioning an imaginative narrative from archaeological data. Her detailed work at the Neolithic site of Opovo in the former Yugoslavia suggests that the settlement was subjected to a series of intentional conflagrations. Attempting “to people” the landscape at Opovo,Tringham recasts that evidence into a thoughtful narrative of one woman who sets her house ablaze and contemplates its demise. The monologue is set as a gendered social act that is neither fiction nor science, but somewhere between the two worlds (Tringham 1991a)."

[Asero]

'The Essential Works of Lenin'.

I have a copy of that book. It was edited by anti-communists, so I don't recommend it. It even omits an entire chapter from What is to Be Done? !

[Asero]

I just got my copy of Problems of Leninism in the mail a few days ago. Stalin is surprisingly readable.

[OGG]

Crime and Punishment

[DOOM]

The Good Person of Szechwan and some Adorno dialectical wizardry

[Brandon's Impotent Rage]

The Martian by Andy Weir

Astronaut goes to Mars. Astronaut survives disaster leaving him lone survivor. Astronaut tries to survive on Mars. Reader becomes addicted.

[the Red bear]

The People. The Rise and Fall of the Working Class, 1910-2010 by Selina Todd,
Ten days that shook the world by John Reed,
Reform or revolution by Rosa Luxemburg:grin:

[Luc]

Jurassic Park really enjoying it :) already requested The Lost World from the local library

[bcbm]

'the snows of kilimanjaro' by ernest hemingway
'latro in the mist' by gene wolfe
'to our friends' by the invisible committee (yes actually reading a theory piece)

[MarcusJuniusBrutus]

The Making of Modern Turkey: Nation and State in Eastern Anatolia, 1913-1950

[keine_zukunft]

'heroes' by bifo

[bcbm]

'the cemetary of swallows' by mallock

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

Books I read over the last month:
'Flash Boys' - Michael Lewis
'The Capitalism Papers' - don't know author, some petty-bourgeois socialist
'The Pope and Mussolini' - David Kertzer
'Hoffa' - Arthur Sloane
'Bonobo Handshake' - Vanessa Woods, beautiful book about Bonobos highly sexually promiscuous and loving social organization
'Socialist Landmarks' - Daniel De Leon
'Lenin Rediscovered' - Lars Lih, great book, could have been even better imo if it integrated more anecdotes about relations between party members and its culture

[Hermes]

The Good Person of Szechwan and some Adorno dialectical wizardry

What did you think of The Good Person of Szechwan?

Just finished Goodbye to All That, and am now starting on Chronicle of Youth and It Was the War of the Trenches. After those, will probably start on the Diary and Letters of Kaethe Kollwitz.

[Guardia Rossa]

The Era of Capital, by Hobsbawm.

I really need more books but money is low...