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Patisotagami
Organism
Registered: 05/15/08
Posts: 687
Loc: Everywhere
Last seen: 7 years, 3 months
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Good Books You've Read/Are Reading
#9263444 - 11/17/08 10:44 PM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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I'm shocked that I haven't found a thread about some great fiction or nonfiction books shroomites read for fun when they aren't browsing the forum!
I'm currently loving Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. It's an often hillarious commentary on religion, society, and the creation of the atomic bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima.
I'm also reading The Pursuit of Happiness by Bertrand Russell. It's a philosophical book about what makes people unhappy when there should be no apparent cause of the unhappiness, and what they can do to combat it. I can't say I agree with everything in Russell's book... but it's interesting. Not nearly as good as Vonnegut though!
-------------------- EVERYTHING IS EVERYTHING
Edited by Patisotagami (11/18/08 04:24 PM)
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jenns_hot
Hungry
Registered: 12/30/06
Posts: 3,459
Loc: East Coast
Last seen: 2 years, 2 months
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Re: Good Books You've Read/Are Reading [Re: Patisotagami]
#9263575 - 11/17/08 11:10 PM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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I loved Cat's Cradle, it's probably my favorite of his... other than slaughterhouse five.
Right now I don't have much time to read, so hopefully I'll be able to read Catch 22 during my Thanksgiving/Christmas break.
-------------------- "Fear makes the wolf look bigger"
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moe.phan
listening for the secret
Registered: 10/15/08
Posts: 2,592
Loc: searching for the sound
Last seen: 6 years, 10 months
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Re: Good Books You've Read/Are Reading [Re: jenns_hot]
#9263618 - 11/17/08 11:18 PM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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"the electric kool-aid acid test" never gets old. i've probably read it 5 times and i'm reading it again.
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Shroomsbrrr
Frequent visitor
Registered: 09/30/04
Posts: 447
Last seen: 4 years, 8 months
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Re: Good Books You've Read/Are Reading [Re: jenns_hot]
#9263697 - 11/17/08 11:30 PM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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I read Slaughterhouse Five, but it wasn't really my type of tea...aliens and ww2 flashbacks? ehh. My favorite books got to be the Rum Diaries by Hunter Thompson.. his writing style puts you in the character and the atmosphere is great. Books i've recently read are 21 which was good, but if you saw the movie theres not much else there, and Leaving Dirty Jersey, the meth memoirs of a man from Princeton who goes to inpatient in cali, leaves, gets fucked up, gets in trouble, and heads back again. All in all it was entertaining, but if your looking for some sort of life lessons to walk away with besides don't overdo drugs it's kinda dry. I'm looking for a new book and i'm unhappy in life right now. Is Pursuit of Happiness something that might be beneficial to read?
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nolongerinuse
Registered: 05/14/06
Posts: 947
Last seen: 10 years, 2 months
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Re: Good Books You've Read/Are Reading [Re: Shroomsbrrr]
#9263710 - 11/17/08 11:32 PM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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ishmael
story of B
need to read 'my ishamael be here now
- will i be on conan O'Brien?
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Adden
Registered: 06/04/03
Posts: 39,201
Loc:
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Re: Good Books You've Read/Are Reading [Re: Patisotagami]
#9263780 - 11/17/08 11:40 PM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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I just grabbed Fahrenheit 451. I'm glad I've waited this long so I can fully appreciate it on an intellectual level for the type of literature it is and what it presents to the reader. Let alone the undertones of literary theory that run throughout the work; in regard to mechanical reproduction, mass media, the dissolution of the individual, etc. Very far ahead of it's time. Nearly forgot it was written in 1953.
I'm reading "The Crisis of the Aristocracy 1558-1641" by Lawrence Stone for a paper and it's pretty interesting. Very good source material.
The Penal Colony is next on my list.
I may very well challenge myself to read something I deem really shitty. If it still sucks at the end, I have the capacity to validate the fact that it does, indeed, suck.
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AnarchoTrip
Young Blood
Registered: 03/26/07
Posts: 2,649
Last seen: 14 years, 5 months
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Re: Good Books You've Read/Are Reading [Re: Adden]
#9263815 - 11/17/08 11:47 PM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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I just finished A Clockwork Orange this evening and will now begin Naked Lunch.
A few of my favourites: Revolution for the Hell of It (Abbie Hoffman) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain) Treasure Island (Robert Louis Steverson)
and for all of you philosophers out there: Totality & Infinity (Emmanuel Levinas)
-------------------- YIPPIE!
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jewunit
Brutal!
Registered: 01/11/07
Posts: 34,264
Loc: Ohio
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Re: Good Books You've Read/Are Reading [Re: Patisotagami]
#9263826 - 11/17/08 11:49 PM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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The only book I've read and finished in a long time that I actually enjoyed was Fats Domino's biography. I also have a book about essential jazz albums throughout history that I like, but it's not really a book you just sit down and read cover to cover.
-------------------- !
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Goomba
Hunter-Gatherer
Registered: 07/11/08
Posts: 188
Loc: Australia
Last seen: 13 years, 6 months
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Re: Good Books You've Read/Are Reading [Re: jewunit]
#9264163 - 11/18/08 01:05 AM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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Slaughterhouse Five is one of my favourite books ever.
Although good ones I've read recently include Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk, and A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, the most interesting book about science that I've ever read.
-------------------- Problem, officer?
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ThreeChe
Stranger
Registered: 12/23/06
Posts: 2
Last seen: 15 years, 3 months
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Re: Good Books You've Read/Are Reading [Re: Goomba]
#9264263 - 11/18/08 01:43 AM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman (should be required reading for shroomerites)
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (about ken kesey and friends)
All My Friends Are Going to be Strangers by Larry McMurtry (really well written, set in Texas)
Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney (pretty breezy read set in the 80's coke/clubbing scene)
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thedefone
deus ex machina
Registered: 10/06/07
Posts: 1,883
Loc: Gondwana
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Re: Good Books You've Read/Are Reading [Re: ThreeChe]
#9264294 - 11/18/08 01:57 AM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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I finished East of Eden about a month ago. That book was phenomenal in how Steinbeck was able to weave such a large theme into such a tight package. It was long, but very, very good. I also re-read Slaughterhouse Five recently as well, and found it much better the second time around.
I would have been reading more, but my laser eye stuff has temporarily sidelined my sight.. My reading goes in spurts anyhow. The Brothers Karamozov is next.. I know I can do it!
-------------------- I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.
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2end4
Fuckin Immortal
Registered: 02/15/07
Posts: 774
Loc: Aristonda
Last seen: 11 years, 10 months
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Re: Good Books You've Read/Are Reading [Re: thedefone]
#9264299 - 11/18/08 01:59 AM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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Another Vote for Electric kool Aid Acid Test Fear and Loathing by HST is a must have/read. Breakfast of Champions by kurt vonnegut is a classic
-------------------- Praise Bob!
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koppie
astral projectile
Registered: 07/23/04
Posts: 2,653
Loc: cloud hidden
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Re: Good Books You've Read/Are Reading [Re: Patisotagami]
#9264373 - 11/18/08 02:25 AM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
smmu said: I'm shocked that I haven't found a thread about some great fiction or nonfiction books shroomites read for fun when they aren't browsing the forum!
There is (used to be?) a list like that in the Art & Literature forum, but it won't hurt to have one here.
Don't really have anything to recommend at the moment. I'm struggling through Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon. I love most of his works but I really find that I'm starting to lack the patience for his longer works. I hope the internet hasn't destroyed my attention span.
If you want to get into Pynchon start with the Crying of Lot 49 If you find that you're into it, go for Gravity's Rainbow. It really helps if you're a bit of a geek. Many of his references are from engineering, which has given him an undeserved reputation of being hard to understand or unreadable among the literature crowd.
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RipVanWinkle
The Benzodiazethang
Registered: 06/11/06
Posts: 4,700
Loc: Near Memphrica, TN
Last seen: 2 years, 4 months
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Re: Good Books You've Read/Are Reading [Re: Patisotagami]
#9264509 - 11/18/08 04:21 AM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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I just finished reading Jack Kerouac's "Dharma Bums" for the second time. It's one of my all time favorites. I love Kerouac
-------------------- Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music.
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Bridgeburner
Not spiritual at all.
Registered: 09/16/06
Posts: 20,010
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Re: Good Books You've Read/Are Reading [Re: RipVanWinkle]
#9264520 - 11/18/08 04:29 AM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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anything by Bukowski
and the "kool-aid" book got annoying fast. maybe it was just me, but Wolfe can't write for shit. he was like that annoying square kid at the end of the bus that wanted to be cool like all the other guys but failed and wrote about it in retrospect.
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jewunit
Brutal!
Registered: 01/11/07
Posts: 34,264
Loc: Ohio
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Re: Good Books You've Read/Are Reading [Re: Bridgeburner]
#9264545 - 11/18/08 04:52 AM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
b0red5tiff said: and the "kool-aid" book got annoying fast. maybe it was just me, but Wolfe can't write for shit. he was like that annoying square kid at the end of the bus that wanted to be cool like all the other guys but failed and wrote about it in retrospect.
That's how I felt about On the Road.
And yeah, I forgot about Bukowski somehow. Love his shit.
-------------------- !
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koppie
astral projectile
Registered: 07/23/04
Posts: 2,653
Loc: cloud hidden
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Re: Good Books You've Read/Are Reading [Re: Bridgeburner]
#9264597 - 11/18/08 05:33 AM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
b0red5tiff said: Wolfe can't write for shit. he was like that annoying square kid at the end of the bus that wanted to be cool like all the other guys but failed and wrote about it in retrospect.
Your assessment of Wolfe is spot on. He ended up becoming a neopuritan freak, like many half-hearted hippie wannabes. They got one brief glimpse at their own dark side and ran away screaming into the arms of the church and conservatism resulting in the fierce rightwing backlash that was the Reagan/Thatcher era.
I won't say he can't write for shit though. I thought Bonfire of the Vanities was a decent novel even though I disagree with some of the ideas he put forward. In Kool-aid he tried to imitate Hunter Thompson and fell short. I still like the book as journalism. Reading about what became of Neal Cassady (Dean Moriarty in On the Road) made it worth reading for me.
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Irdamage
Autobot
Registered: 11/19/05
Posts: 1,491
Loc: Canada
Last seen: 7 years, 3 months
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Re: Good Books You've Read/Are Reading [Re: koppie]
#9264630 - 11/18/08 06:13 AM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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Just finished reading a short non-fiction about a child soldier in Sierra Leone. Its basically a summarized version of his life in the early 90's during their Civil War between various factions of rebels and the governments corrupt leaders, and how thousands of children were taken into combat.
Its called "A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah. Was a pretty satisfying and informative read for fairly short book.
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KaptKid
Spaced Pirate
Registered: 12/11/03
Posts: 6,252
Loc: Bright Side of the Sun
Last seen: 4 years, 1 month
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Re: Good Books You've Read/Are Reading [Re: Patisotagami]
#9264655 - 11/18/08 06:26 AM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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-------------------- Child of the 60's, Tripping ever since.
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ray40cal
omnitrippint
Registered: 05/05/08
Posts: 1,308
Loc: midwest side
Last seen: 15 years, 3 months
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Re: Good Books You've Read/Are Reading [Re: KaptKid]
#9264673 - 11/18/08 06:40 AM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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KaptKid hows your postcount doing?
Just got done reading "The Innocent Man" by John Grisham. It's hella depressing really. Basicly about a semi-retarded dude named Ron Williamson, who gets falsley accused of murder, gets put on death row, then gets off. He's a wierd fucker too. Sad part is this is a true story. I give it 6.5/10 for being so depressing, yet its nonfiction sorta a biography i guess. There is some coolness in it, but its only because it actually happened and you read some stuff and go wtf? Anyone want some tea and crumpets?
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