What are you reading right now?

  1. nip
    nip
    So what are you reading right now? I'm looking for an interesting book/series.
  2. Nuvem
    Nuvem
    I highly recommend "Let History Judge" by Roy A. Medvedev. It's a massive study and critique of the entire Stalin era. What makes it significant is that Medvedev was a Communist, specifically a fairly orthodox Marxist-Leninist. Too often our knowledge of the period comes from Bourgeois analysis or from Trotskists (I read your political statement, I mean no offense; merely that it's pretty much a given that a Trotskist is going to have very little good to say about Stalin).
    All in all, Medvedev utterly condemns both Stalin and Stalinism. The book was published in 1967, originally in Germany because it took several years for the Soviet government to allow the book to be published.

    One of my favorites is a brief one, "With Fidel". Essentially it's a very lengthy interview of Fidel Castro being conducted by American journalists back in the 1970s. It was the first time Americans interviewed Fidel since the 1950s and provided a massive amount of insight regarding Cuban society and post-revolutionary government. In the interview Fidel does much to explain how the Cuban government operates, how elections are conducted, their education systems, etc. The reporters also give much of their own interpretation of what they see during their time in Cuba. It's a little dated, but very eye-opening.

    Cliche, but I also highly recommend "For Whom the Bell Tolls" for anyone who hasn't read it yet.

    Read "The Lucifer Principle" if you want to become thoroughly depressed, disturbed and angry. Some of the theories in the book are solid and have some logical basis, but the remainder is complaining about Mao, Fidel, Lenin, and pretty much Communism in general. Still worth reading for the remaining bits if you're willing to put up with it long enough.

    "The Life and Death of Lenin" was an interesting read, but heavily anti-Leninist and anti-Communist in general. The author is clearly a speculative American who paints a picture of Lenin as a non-Communist nihilist Anarchist with more in common with Nechayev than Marx. I consider this a test of faith; if you can get through roughly 700 pages of this book and still respect Lenin, you're damn committed. Of course the vast majority is speculative bullshit and shouldn't be taken seriously.
  3. nip
    nip
    All right I'll check them out.
  4. TheGodlessUtopian
    TheGodlessUtopian
    Currently "Capital" by Marx and the companion to Capital by David Harvey.

    I'm also reading "The Dragon Bone Chair", the first book in a fantasy trilogy by Tad Williams.
  5. samofshs
    samofshs
    Wanted! The hunt for nazis in America.
  6. LibertyOrMartyrdom
    LibertyOrMartyrdom
    "American Fascists" by Chris Hedges, "Guerrilla Warfare" by Ernesto Che Guevara, and "The People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn. I'm going to try and find some of Trotsky's books after I'm done with the others.