Latest Gene Wolfe book you read (1-10 scale)

[danox3]

Lethe - A. Sparrow 8/10

Getting a nook has opened up a whole new world of amateur fiction, plus allowed free access to old classics I might not have spent the money on.

[EEEOOOEEEOOOEEEOOO]

Bad Science- 8/10. It's basically a grand (and well flushed out) introduction to research studies and their implication to evidence-based medicine. Actually, I could have just read this book and saved 2100$ on my research class, because I learned just as much from the book. It goes on to debunk homeopathy and shoots a lot of holes in complementary alternative medicine and nutritionism (or rather, it calls out the bullshit that these practices produce). Lastly, it provides an explanation for how the pharmaceutical industry tortures statistics to death to skew research in their favor. It's a pretty quick read, and I think anyone who's even remotely interested in science would get a kick out of it. It's also pretty funny.

Cool, I'll check it out.

[neckbeard]

hmm

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

William Shirer - The Collapse of the Third Republic - 7/10

If you have never read Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich read that first, then read this is as a companion piece. Same ridiculous attention to detail, excellent narrative pace, and Shirer's not afraid to opinionate without being partisan, but to be honest France's fall was covered in the first book and other than being the epic win that doomed Hitler, the story is not that much different than what happened on a smaller scale in every other country prior. The establishment and radical right in France used the threat of invasion, which they somewhat welcome, to weaken and discredit the left and center Republic and set up their own ascendancy under the white flag, which they accomplish through Nazi-esque political tactics and trickery. The radical left ultimately goes along with it/falls for it, and the weak-willed moderates flee the country, as does eventually De Gaulle or are imprisoned by the New Order. There are some interesting battle scenes and vista views of the populace, but really it's about a country bickering and whining itself to death and after awhile it gets pretty mundane and depressing, I guess as a book called The Collapse and Fall of something should, but there was really no great new information on any large scale I got from reading this.

[Lord Beguile]

The Hummingbird's Journey to God: Perspectives on San Pedro; the Cactus of Vision by Ross Heaven - 9.2

[pooptastik]

Horror In The East - Japan and the Atrocities of WWII 8/10
starts off slow but it picks up and can't put it down, made me tear up in couple of times. points out all the hypocrisies from all sides during the war.

[ibn Horowitz]

The Mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy - 4/10
Pretty engaging but the tone and all the allusion ruined anything decent for me. Sad ending though.

[Necrometer]

hmm

hahaha

[featherboa]

wanna read that book

[NANOplague]

Ringworld by Larry Niven - fuckin TEN SONNNN!
Up there with Hyperion and Dune for my money. THE SCIENCE IS TOO TIGHT!!

[ibn Horowitz]

what is hyperion like?

[badgevvrecker]

character driven space opera meets canterbury tales. it's worth your time if you like sci-fi.

[altars of radness]

Failed States, Noam Chomsky - 8/10. Not exactly the best book to read if you don't want to walk around pissed off all the time. Basic message: we're absolutely, utterly fucked.

I get the same feeling whenever I read Zinn or read Chomsky. I don't know where they found/find the desire to keep it up.

[John Jr.]

piss and venom hidden behind a liberal facade is my guess.

[father of lies]

Thee Psychick Bible - Genesis P-Orridge and Thee Third Mind ov Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth - an uneven 9

There were a few parts that just weren't as interesting (The Anton Journals or whatever that was called was almost gibberish to me, and while I appreciate including correspondence about the copyright bickering and so on [PWoG was pretty rad, but I dunno how I feel about them defying Gen's request...] for context, it wasn't exactly an entertaining read), but the good stuff is about as good as this sort of thing can get. Still relevant.

[father of lies]

Nader'd

[NANOplague]

Thee Psychick Bible - Genesis P-Orridge and Thee Third Mind ov Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth - an uneven 9

There were a few parts that just weren't as interesting (The Anton Journals or whatever that was called was almost gibberish to me, and while I appreciate including correspondence about the copyright bickering and so on [PWoG was pretty rad, but I dunno how I feel about them defying Gen's request...] for context, it wasn't exactly an entertaining read), but the good stuff is about as good as this sort of thing can get. Still relevant.

So, is it written with al the "Thee"s and "Ov"s? cuz, that's real cute for a sentence but a whole book of that shit
would be infuriating.

[father of lies]

Only some parts. Gen is the only one that did that, and there is stuff by Sleazy and other, more anonymous, TOPY members. The sections where it's prominent dno't make up the majority of the book, and you get used to it really quickly. I think you'd dig it.

Thee Grey Book alone is worth it.

[father of lies]

Sort of connected to all of that...has anyone read this:

http://www.amazon.com/Englands-Hidden-R ... 228&sr=8-1

?

I think I would really enjoy going through it.

ooh

[ibn Horowitz]

The Razor's Edge - W. Somerset Maugham - 6/10
Decline and Fall - Evelyn Waugh - 8/10

[badgevvrecker]

read "Clans Of The Alphane Moon" next, and pick up a collection of his short stories. make sure to check out the story "The Mold of Yancy"

[Gay for Cock]

A Confession - Leo Tolstoy 10/10

It's a great place to start if you're interested in Leo Tolstoy's religious views and how he came back to accepting God, more on his own terms than on the ones set by any Christian institution. It was actually a quick read, unlike his other book that I read "The Kingdom of God Is Within You" which was rather dense. I would have liked more details into some of his reasoning, more in depth about his feelings on being unfulfilled with his wife and children and a lot more detail on his views against organized religion but this is more of a primer into the beginning of his search for an answer to life. He sited one of his works "An Investigation into Dogmatic Theology" which was supposed to expand on the ideas in this book, but I believe it was never published. But that's ok because I think all his non-fiction religious works that came after this pretty much expanded on the ideas in this book. You're left with a view of a man with more questions than answers, and it's a rather refreshing view for a book about Christianity.

[neckbeard]

You read all of Kingdom? I was reading the introduction or translator's notes and it said 'this is really repetitive and specific to Russia; skip to the last chapter. " Been meaning to finish that chapter for a while.

SPOILERSPOILER_SHOW

I should just find an audiobook =p

[Gay for Cock]

I read somewhere between 1/2 to 3/4 of Kingdom a few years ago but I just haven't gotten around to reading the whole thing yet. I made the mistake of trying to read it while reading another book and that one just sucked me in a bit more so it went back on the shelf. Some of the language is a bit repetitive and he does go back to the same point over and over, but his criticisms are dead on so I think it's worth reading all the way through. Read the last chapter and if you like it enough try to tackle the entire thing. You could probably get a great drinking game going (with the audio book) with the amount of times he repeats "non-resistance to.(whatever).." in the book.

[The Real MPD]

A Storm of Swords - 9