What are you reading?

[comesect2.0]

nice!^

[oscillateur]

Pygmy by Chuck Palhhnnnehlleh

That one is weird as fuck. I think I enjoyed it.

[OldGeorge]

Just grabbed 'Of Human Bondage' by Maugham. Slow going because the guitar is constantly calling but good in a depressing sort of way... good song material

[coldbrightsunlight]

I'm sure someone in here a while ago was saying how good Octavia Butler is but I can't be bothered to find the comment. Thanks though!! Absolutely devouring the Lilith's Brood series, it's so good!

[Invisible Man]

Was probably UC or myself.

[coldbrightsunlight]

Whoever it was I thoroughly agree that she was a great author.

[popvulture]

Currently reading VE Schwab's second book in the Shades of Magic series, A Gathering of Shadows. I'm about half way through and tbh have thought many times about just finding a plot summary to find out what happens—it's thoroughly meh. Pretty much reads like teen fiction.

[Jwar]

I'm reading The Last Motel by Brett McBean. He's an awesome Aussie author. If you're into horror, check him out! I loved his book Mother, which I won in a drawing from him.

[Lurker13]

Overthrow, by Stephen Kinzer, as recommended by D.o.S. - good call, man. I'm happy it's readable, the last time I tried to read a book like this it was written by an academic and it was dryer than the Sahara Desert. Kinzer, on the other hand, has a very readable writing style.

[kaeth]

Do you guys ever read books that fly way over your head? I want to get better at reading / understanding / retaining, but I'm not sure immersing myself in convoluted language is an effective way to go about that. Part of me wants to power through, hoping that by the end, some vague understanding will stick, even subconsciously. The other part of me thinks I'm just wasting time jacking off, frustrated, to no climax.

I'm halfway through Alfred North Whitehead's Process and Reality, and I'm not sure I've understood a single sentence in it. I'm interested in the concept, so I've read through related wikipedia articles, and watched some youtube vids, which has given me a broad idea, but there's still a huge disconnect between what has been explained to me, and what I'm reading in the book.

I also just got Alfred Korzybski's Science and Sanity (because of Robert Anton Wilson), which upon cursory glance seems just as dense, and twice as long. I should probably just go back to reading comic books.

[$harkToootth]

^^No dude, you'll eventually get it. Like anything else, it just takes practice. Just keep reading, re-reading and don't be afraid of reader's guides/companions. That's what they are there for.

I would have never made it through anything Kant wrote had I not had a companion handy.

[kaeth]

Thanks, I appreciate that. A light at the end of the tunnel will probably make the read a little less agonizing.

[$harkToootth]

Another way to view it is, in a lot of academia...the "scholars" don't even agree. It's not a finite thing and is open to constant reinterpretation. Gilles Deleuze reinterpreted several other philosophers works. And of course his peers, contemporaries...and anyone...still do, and don't, agree with him. That's just one example.

I have not been reading philosophy or critical thought these days. My July project is a book that has been sitting on my shelf for years. GOLD AND IRON: BISMARCK, BLEICHRÖDER, AND THE BUILDING OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE by Fritz Stern. 600 pages...it will be intense. I have it planned so I read 20 pages per day. And kaeth, I can assure you, even though this is history, I will still be consulting secondary material for help.

[$harkToootth]

That said, nothing wrong with comics. I just finished PUKE FORCE and it was everything I wanted it to be. Also read PATIENCE by Clowes which may have been a tad trite but I love anything Clowes does.

[Jwar]

I'm starting to think no one here likes the same shit I do with books. LOL