What are you reading?

That sounds really interesting!...Is it published in any other languages? Originally Posted by Valerie

I was looking already. Unfortunately the series i read is only in german. But he published one book in english. Maybe its a summary of the whole series.
here it is:

http://www.amazon.com/Dreamtime-Conc...tt_at_ep_dpi_1

"Argues that man creates a cultural order inside which he lives. Outside of that form of life is the 'wilderness': the outer wilderness of untamed nature and the inner psychological wilderness of areas of personality hidden in everyday life. Only by stepping outside his culture can man understand his cultural self. Only by experiencing the wilderness outside our normal system of living can we understand what we are as civilised beings within our form of life. He suggests that primitive peoples have a better understanding than modern scientific man of this need to step outside the cultural order in order to understand what is inside it."

You must really be pissed at the most recent Supreme Court ruling then! Westboro Church.

Why can't you believe that he is allowed to teach? You better start worrying when he isnt allowed to!


I'm reading M. Gladwell's , "What the Dog Saw...."

I read the first half in Cabo and will finish it here in Lake Tahoe. So maybe the book is not as good as I precieve it to be. haha But I like the hell out of it. Debunks mant preceptions we have about people, places and things. Originally Posted by WTF

The only problem I have with the decision was that it was not unanimous. WTF, you’re comparing apples and oranges again. Chomsky is entitled to his free speech. What I cannot understand is why anyone would pay top dollar to listen to his drivel.

P.S. Stay away from the Bunny Ranches near Carson City. They won't leave you any money for the tables.

[FONT=&quot][SIZE=3]The only problem I have with the decision was that it was not unanimous. WTF, you’re comparing apples and oranges again. Chomsky is entitled to his free speech. What I cannot understand is why anyone would pay top dollar to listen to his drivel.
Originally Posted by I B Hankering

I am very fond of Noam Chomsky too. He produced some really important essays on linguistics. I would pay top dollar to listen to him any day.

I suppose I'm wrapping up the winter of my totalitarian discontent. I finally finished William Shirer's, The Rise & Fall of The Third Reich. Took me forever as it was just too big & heavy of a book to lug around whilst traveling. Following that up with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's, The Gulag Archipelago.

I'm also gradually working my way through, All The Devils Are Here, by Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera. That one is taking so long as I'm unable to read more than a little at a time without getting so angry that I just have to put it down & walk away.

Balancing out all the gloom & doom with a re-read of Neil Stephenson's, Cryptonomicon, which is just a wonderfully funny read in a techo-geeky way. Originally Posted by Sisyphus

Thanks for your list of readings. I will look up the Shirer book, never heard of it.

I have similar convulsions, revulsion, when I read anything by Noam Chomsky. You’re angered by the subject; whereas, I’m angered at the author. I can’t believe he is allowed to teach at any American university. Originally Posted by I B Hankering

What makes you so angry about Chomsky? Would you care to explain? I am really curious. I know there have been controversies about him and his political opinions, but what especially freaks you out :-) ?

I value his works on linguistics very highly. Its standard to be taught at universities. It is great work , he set standards for interpretations of language and meanings of words. If you want to do qualitative research and interpretations, Chomsky is a must-read.

What makes you so angry about Chomsky? Would you care to explain? I am really curious. I know there have been controversies about him and his political opinions, but what especially freaks you out :-) ?

I value his works on linguistics very highly. Its standard to be taught at universities. It is great work , he set standards for interpretations of language and meanings of words. If you want to do qualitative research and interpretations, Chomsky is a must-read. Originally Posted by ninasastri

Chomsky’s thesis in Hegemony or Survival is predicated on a disingenuous interpretation of historical facts and events. As such, his “history” lesson is a bald face lie.

Chomsky’s thesis in Hegemony or Survival is predicated on a disingenuous interpretation of historical facts and events. As such, his “history” lesson is a bald face lie. Originally Posted by I B Hankering

Ok i will look into that. Will google right now. Thanks for your insight. I love this board.
ps: Am just reading. Will mail my POV soon.

I read three books at a time. My main piece, a collection of poetry, and a study

The poem a day either during morning coffee, afternoon tea or before sleep:
Oxford's Book of War Poetry, organized by date of battle.

For my main reading I rotate fiction and nonfiction, I'm on fiction:
Nana By Émile Zola

Study:
Healing Teas - a guide on herbal teas and how to use them for various health issues. Handy when your gent or a friend has a headache, stomachache or some other trifling issue (my Eastern European roots at work lol)

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American by Gwynne

and

Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbons.

Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbons. Originally Posted by Whirlaway

LOL FYI

“Another damned thick book! Always scribble, scribble, scribble! Eh, Mr. Gibbon?”
Attributed to Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, 1781, upon receiving the second (or third, or possibly both) volume(s) of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire from author Edward Gibbons.

Thanks for your list of readings. I will look up the Shirer book, never heard of it. Originally Posted by ninasastri

I've never read that book, but a long time ago I read Albert Speer's "Inside the Third Reich." Amazing publication by one who was a witness.

[QUOTE=ninasastri;1076457]I was looking already. Unfortunately the series i read is only in german. But he published one book in english. Maybe its a summary of the whole series.
here it is:

http://www.amazon.com/Dreamtime-Conc...tt_at_ep_dpi_1

Thanks!...I'm wanting to learn a third language and have been debating on which, perhaps I should just go for German so I can read it!

Thanks for your list of readings. I will look up the Shirer book, never heard of it. Originally Posted by ninasastri

I've never read that book, but a long time ago I read Albert Speer's "Inside the Third Reich." Amazing publication by one who was a witness. Originally Posted by charlestudor2005

@ Nina - Both Shirer and Speer were eyewitnesses to the rise of Hitler. Shirer was an American journalist stationed in Berlin before the war, and his book is full of colorful, vindictive adjectives describing the Nazis. Speer, OTH, was an insider and was with Hitler nearly to the end. Speer is an apologist in his books (Spandau: The Secret Diaries is a good read also). He claims he thought about poisoning Hitler via the Berlin bunker's air shaft, but maintains the ventilation shafts were re-engineered in such a way as to prevent him (Speer) from executing his plan. I liked Speer's book better, but both are eyewitness accounts of that terrible moment in history.

You must be built like a muscle man after lugging all those tomes around. Originally Posted by charlestudor2005

I wish! Cryptonomicon & All The Devils Are Here, are e-books. I bought Gulag Archipeligo in two volumes...as paperbacks. I know...I know.... Wuss, wuss!! Between this laziness & the excessive eating/drinking...I'll soon resemble your former avatar! May I borrow it when the time comes?

The only books that upset me that much were the writings of Edgar Cayce. I read the paperbacks in college, and would literally throw them against the wall with all the force I could muster. Originally Posted by charlestudor2005

I have similar convulsions, revulsion, when I read anything by Noam Chomsky. You’re angered by the subject; whereas, I’m angered at the author. I can’t believe he is allowed to teach at any American university. Originally Posted by I B Hankering

There's not much that bothers me this much...but a debacle 30-years in the making certainly qualifies. I had the same reaction to Frank Reich's, The Greatest Story Ever Sold. Don't get me wrong. In both cases...it's wonderful writing...but the subject matter just annoys me to NO end! I want to know what each has to tell me...but I can only take it in very concentrated doses. It's just TOO frustrating for me to contemplate for very long...

Thanks for your list of readings. I will look up the Shirer book, never heard of it. Originally Posted by ninasastri

At your service, m'lady! Enjoy!

William Shirer was a journalist stationed in Berlin (I think he was American but I honestly don't know...might have been British...if that matters) throughout the 1930s. The book was originally published in the early 1960s. The copy I have is a 30th anniversary edition with a short - yet interesting afterward.

His book actually created a bit of a stir within the academic community at the time. "Traditional" historians argued it was just too soon to write THE definitive history of a regime so recent.

Shirer countered with....

1) No such regime had ever collapsed with such a definitive written archive captured intact before. And;

2) I was there. Given # 1, if anyone is in a position to write this...it's me.

Agree or disagree, it makes for compelling reading. LOL...all 1200+ thoroughly frustrating, depressing pages of it...

I am currently reading "Garlic and Sapphires" by Ruth Reichl. She was a resturaunt critic for the NY Times. Its the third book I read by her.