Recommend me a book

[MarxSchmarx]

I'm going to be taking a long trip soon. I want something good to read along the way. What should I read?

Here's some stuff I'm looking for:

1. A relatively unknown/eclectic author.
2. Would prefer English as I have readiest access to English books. translations are cool.
3. Something compelling and educational; ideally straight up non-fiction or creative nonfiction.
4. Well-written and relatively jargon free. Generally I find stuff written by contemporary journalists to fit this bill.
5. Deals more or less directly with the class struggle and is hard hitting.
6. Engaging.

I think the last point is key. I don't want a chore, like "Capital", "State and Revolution", "Conquest of Bread", Foucault, etc... as there is no way I'll read this after a long day of journeying. I'd like something I can read while I'm in the waiting room, etc...

Thanks all!!

[Led Zeppelin]

Gorky's Mother is brilliant.

His three-volume autobiography is great as well, you can get them all in one book, or separately. The first is called My Childhood, the second In The World and the third My Universities.

[RNK]

Green Eggs And Ham (http://members.aol.com/smargolin/ryan/green.htm)

[UndergroundConnexion]

Bakunin - God and the State

Fantastic book , and reads just as fantastic

[Holden Caulfield]

Bakunin - God and the State

Fantastic book , and reads just as fantastic

Just read it, it is really well written, he goes a bit over board on the ol' foot notes at points,

i started on Neitzsches stuff recently seems good to me

[Cult of Reason]

Mutual Aid - A Factor of Evolution.

Do it! It is recommended by Alex Comfort (the wonderful person who brought us The Joy of Sex)!

[Led Zeppelin]

You people have no taste.

I mean seriously, Nietzsche? I'd rather be tortured than read that garbage.

Tolstoy was right; "Nietzsche was stupid and abnormal."

[Holden Caulfield]

says the guy with a name as Led Zeplin,
i read Tolstoy it bored me

[Led Zeppelin]

Led Zeppelin rocks, I have no idea what you listen to (probably punk crap), but it is garbage compared to Zeppelin, no doubt.

Tolstoy boring? Sure, if you have no taste in literature.

Besides, I recommended Gorky, not Tolstoy.

[ArabRASH]

You people have no taste.

I mean seriously, Nietzsche? I'd rather be tortured than read that garbage.

Tolstoy was right; "Nietzsche was stupid and abnormal."

Hahaha that's such a funny quote i crack up everytime i read it.

Come on Nietzsche isn't complete garbage. I think that with Nietzsche, you either love him or you hate him.

What do you recommed for Tolstoy(never read anything him)? War and Peace?

[non-vio-resist]

I'm going to be taking a long trip soon. I want something good to read along the way. What should I read?

Here's some stuff I'm looking for:

1. A relatively unknown/eclectic author.
2. Would prefer English as I have readiest access to English books. translations are cool.
3. Something compelling and educational; ideally straight up non-fiction or creative nonfiction.
4. Well-written and relatively jargon free. Generally I find stuff written by contemporary journalists to fit this bill.
5. Deals more or less directly with the class struggle and is hard hitting.
6. Engaging.

I think the last point is key. I don't want a chore, like "Capital", "State and Revolution", "Conquest of Bread", Foucault, etc... as there is no way I'll read this after a long day of journeying. I'd like something I can read while I'm in the waiting room, etc...

Thanks all!!


i've read war & peace and it's excellent. anna karenina is condidered his best by many; some consider it the best book ever written. one of tolstoy's lesser known works, which is quasi-religious/ political is called the kingdom of god is within you (trust me: it's better than it sounds). apparently it inspired gandhi if that means anything to you. either of those from tolstoy would be a good read. a people's history of the united states by howard zinn is a must-read for leftists, as well as most of chomsky. the nice thing about most of chomsky's political stuff is that it's not too dense. he doesn't write to intellectuals; he writes to average people. also, a guy i discovered from this website who is excellent is michael parenti; anything by parenti is great, usually (he does seem to view the world through a marxist lens). just some ideas for you.

[Led Zeppelin]

What do you recommed for Tolstoy(never read anything him)? War and Peace?

War and Peace is a pretty heavy work, you have to invest a lot of time in it.

I recommend reading Anna Karenina for a starter. His three part auto-biography is pretty good too, it's called Childhood, Boyhood, Youth.


anna karenina is condidered his best by many; some consider it the best book ever written.

Yup, it's my favorite novel.


a people's history of the united states by howard zinn is a must-read for leftists

Great book, though it became a bit tedious and boring towards the end.


as well as most of chomsky

Chomsky's writing style is horrible.

He quotes from sources, proceeds to give a short commentary, and goes on quoting again.

It's annoying as hell.

[PsciStudent]

My suggestion would be to read "Clockers" by Richard Price.

[Mujer Libre]

LZ, Chomsky is an academic- his books are written to academic standards of referencing...

And tbh I found Russian realism like Tolstoy fairly tedious. You could try The Dispossessed by Ursula le Guin- anarchist fiction.

I quite like Tariq Ali's writing style, although I've only read Clash of Fundamentalisms. I'd also recommend Arundhati Roy, but I'm not sure if you'd be interested.

[Os Cangaceiros]

You people have no taste.

I mean seriously, Nietzsche? I'd rather be tortured than read that garbage.

Tolstoy was right; "Nietzsche was stupid and abnormal."

I agree with the abnormal part.

However, Nietzsche was far from stupid. I'm going to have to disagree with Tolstoy there.

That said, it took a LOT of effort for me to churn through Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

[Prairie Fire]

Imperialism and Revolution by Enver Hoxha

You can find the complete text on Marxists Internet Archive

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

"Lenin and the Russian Revolution" by Christopher Hill is a short but good read.

[Bilan]

Society of the Spectacle - Guy Debord
The Revolution of every day life - Rauol Vanegiam (Admittedly, I haven't finished this, as I can only read it online, but what I have read, fantastic)

[Led Zeppelin]

LZ, Chomsky is an academic- his books are written to academic standards of referencing...

Of course, but there are also footnotes...

He does it in the text itself, it's like he doesn't even use his own wordings, instead he uses the quoted text, which is fine if all you care about is "cold hard-facts", but if you want more out of a work, like human emotion, it's boring and annoying.

[Pawn Power]

Tolstoy was right; "Nietzsche was stupid and abnormal."

O come on! He just said that because he was a crazy christian and Nietzsche was the supposed "anti-christ".

[Os Cangaceiros]

O come on! He just said that because he was a crazy christian and Nietzsche was the supposed "anti-christ".

He may have been a crazy Christian, but he was one of the better ones. :D

[SouthernBelle82]

A book I'm really liking right now I'm reading off and on is "A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn. It's an easy read but not too easy or anything like that. I also recommend "Christian fascists" by Chris Hedges and "Armed Madhouse" by Greg Palast (get the latest edition cause he added more).

[SouthernBelle82]

Oh another book I remembered is "Confessions of an Economic Hitman." I forgot the author and have been meaning to read it myself lately. I've heard a good number of interviews from the guy who wrote it and he was fascinating so I'm sure the book is just as good.

[SouthernBelle82]

Oh if you want something for fun I recommend "The Golden Compus." This is on my book list too heh heh. My brother is a big fan of the books and loved it so I recommend it through his reviews.

[Mujer Libre]

SouthernBelle, please don't spam. You can edit your posts, you know. :P

[Purple]

Youve probably already read it, but if you havent, I recommend reading 1984 by Orwell. Not only has it good political commentaries but it is written in a very enjoyable and engaging style.

[MarxSchmarx]

Wow thanks comrades!!

I'd read quite a bit of the books/authors suggested. Zinn, Nietzsche, Bakunin, Tolstoy, Orwell, Hill, Debord, Chomsky... are classics and required reading for sure.

So I had to go with the less famous ones, and decided on "Confessions of and Economic Hitman", Price's "Clockers" and Gorky's "Mother".

Look forward to reading them:) :)

[Led Zeppelin]

Awesome, let us know what you thought of the books, especially Gorky's Mother. :)

[Djehuti]

I'm going to be taking a long trip soon. I want something good to read along the way. What should I read?

Here's some stuff I'm looking for:

1. A relatively unknown/eclectic author.
2. Would prefer English as I have readiest access to English books. translations are cool.
3. Something compelling and educational; ideally straight up non-fiction or creative nonfiction.
4. Well-written and relatively jargon free. Generally I find stuff written by contemporary journalists to fit this bill.
5. Deals more or less directly with the class struggle and is hard hitting.
6. Engaging.




Leo Huberman - Man's Worldly Goods - The Story of The Wealth of Nations

http://www.amazon.com/Mans-Worldly-Goods-Wealth-Nations/dp/1406798207/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204892358&sr=8-1


Really. Read it. All of you.

[Jude]

Gorky's "Mother"

Personally I thought it was amazing, just don't spread it out over too long, the three people (me included) that I know who did that lost interest quickly and it became more of an obligation that an enjoyable experience.

As for suggestions, I really don't read a lot of left-wing factuals. It's mainly Philosophy for me, Sartre, Rousseau, Voltaire, but even a little Zinn and Chomsky whenever I'm feeling rebellious:)