billcoe Posted February 6, 2006 Posted February 6, 2006 I was perusing this thread about a month ago and picked up 2 great books recommended on this site. I read botha dn want to thank those who recommended them. Robert Hughes "The Fatal Shore", and "The Prize" by Danial Yergin. I found "The Prize" especially powerful and interesting. Soo. Heres a few more I found which you might check out: "Enders Game and Enders Shadow" by Olsen Scott Card, both top notch Science Fiction. "Titan" by Ron Chernov, perhaps the best biography I've every read (subject is John D Rockerfeller Sr.) Anybody else have any topnotch books to share? Quote
JayB Posted February 6, 2006 Posted February 6, 2006 I've been reading a bit of a hodgepoge lately. Quite a bit of shorter stuff by Tom Wolfe, all of which has been quite funny and very entertaining. "The Painted World," "From Bauhaus to Our House, " and "MauMauing the Flak-Catchers," were all hillarious and make for a nice afternoon of reading. Other stuff includes "The True Believers" by Eric Hoffer - basically his ruminations concerning the origins of mass movements. I think the story of his life is just as interesting as the book. From what I can recall he was blind as a child, regained his vision as a teen, and read furiously from that point on as he wasn't sure how long the gift of vision would last. He spent most of his adult life working as a longshoreman, and never pursued a higher education - a fact which quite a few people cite as the reason for the refreshing degree of originality and commmon sense that he brought to the book, seeing as how if he'd been through any university in the forties or fifties he'd probably have lost his thesis in the usual ghoulash of Marx and Freud. Also reading "From Subsistence to Exchange," which is a series of essays on the economics of development by a guy who was one of the few dissidents from most of the central economic orthodoxies of the day. Good stuff but quite unlikely to appeal to anyone else on this board. Quote
catbirdseat Posted February 6, 2006 Posted February 6, 2006 I was perusing this thread about a month ago and picked up 2 great books recommended on this site. I read botha dn want to thank those who recommended them. Robert Hughes "The Fatal Shore", and "The Prize" by Danial Yergin. I found "The Prize" especially powerful and interesting. Soo. Heres a few more I found which you might check out: "Enders Game and Enders Shadow" by Olsen Scott Card, both top notch Science Fiction. "Titan" by Ron Chernov, perhaps the best biography I've every read (subject is John D Rockerfeller Sr.) Anybody else have any topnotch books to share? Hey, I read Ender's Game and I'd love to read the two sequels too. I just read The Medieval Machine. It really changed the way I regard the middle ages. Quote
foraker Posted February 6, 2006 Posted February 6, 2006 Good stuff but quite unlikely to appeal to anyone else on this board. Yeah, it's not like anyone here has an open mind or anything. Quote
EWolfe Posted February 6, 2006 Posted February 6, 2006 "Enders Game and Enders Shadow" by Olsen Scott Card, both top notch Science Fiction. It's ORSON Scott Card, and his Alvin Prentice series is some of the best stuff I have ever read. Also: "Maps in the Mirror" is an excellent collection of his short work. FYI Quote
EWolfe Posted February 6, 2006 Posted February 6, 2006 I put up a route called "Ender's Game" Alpinfox can tell you about it. .10c trad Quote
crackers Posted February 6, 2006 Posted February 6, 2006 I don't like Bauer or Sen...years working in developing economies suggest to me that the world has significantly changed since 'from subsistence...' was written. Freakonomics is tolerable. Post Cowboy Economics is fantastic. (disclosure: written by my econ prof, i helped on early versions of one chapter...) The White Rock, An Exploration of the Inca Heartland was pretty good. Quote
JayB Posted February 6, 2006 Posted February 6, 2006 Good stuff but quite unlikely to appeal to anyone else on this board. Yeah, it's not like anyone here has an open mind or anything. I should have amended that to say - "Will only appeal to a very limited number of posters on this board." If you want a case study that exemplifies many of the problems that Bauer discusses in "From Subsistence to Exchange," pick up "The Road to Hell" by Michael Maren. It chronicles Somalia's death-spiral and the tragic experiences of one aid-worker who was trying to stop it. It's a hearbreaking read, but if you ever wanted to understand the context in which the intervention of the early 90's took place, it's a great book for that. I think that "The Road to Hell" would actually appeal to just about anyone, but I'd recommend stocking-up on Zoloft, "Barney" DVDs, and "Chicken Soup for the ______" books to restore psychological equilibrium when you're done. Quote
JayB Posted February 6, 2006 Posted February 6, 2006 I don't like Bauer or Sen...years working in developing economies suggest to me that the world has significantly changed since 'from subsistence...' was written. Freakonomics is tolerable. Post Cowboy Economics is fantastic. (disclosure: written by my econ prof, i helped on early versions of one chapter...) The White Rock, An Exploration of the Inca Heartland was pretty good. Post-Cowboy Economics looks interesting. Thanks for the rec. Quote
cj001f Posted February 6, 2006 Posted February 6, 2006 excellant history of WW1 The First World War - John Keegan from the depressing Africa file: King Leopold's Ghost The End of the Game - P. Beard In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz Quote
JayB Posted February 6, 2006 Posted February 6, 2006 Second vote for "King Leopold's Ghost." Important book but I'd advise against Seattelites reading it until the cloud-cover breaks up in Mid-July. Quote
foraker Posted February 6, 2006 Posted February 6, 2006 Sounds like just the kind of book one should read before visiting Belgium in case the locals get smug. ;-) Quote
JayB Posted February 6, 2006 Posted February 6, 2006 Pretty much every country that's had any power to abuse has done so at some point in their history, but what stands out about this episode is both how thoroughly it's been forgotten, and the fact that in most cases of large-scale slaughter the participants at least invoked some grand principle - with varying degrees of sincerity - to justify their actions, but Leopold seems to have forgone even this traditional ablution. Makes an interesting backdrop for anyone who's a Joseph Conrad fan. I suppose it's worth adding "Heart of Darkness" to the recommended list if there's anyone out there who hasn't read it. Quote
cj001f Posted February 6, 2006 Posted February 6, 2006 Pretty much every country that's had any power to abuse has done so at some point in their history, but what stands out about this episode is both how thoroughly it's been forgotten, and the fact that in most cases of large-scale slaughter the participants at least invoked some grand principle - with varying degrees of sincerity - to justify their actions, but Leopold seems to have forgone even this traditional ablution. That is certainly true - but it's also intresting to note that the former British Colonies emerged generally stronger and better governed than the other European (or American) colonies. cue: The Rise and Fall of the British Empire - Lawrence James Quote
ChrisT Posted February 6, 2006 Posted February 6, 2006 I've been reading "A Millions Little Pieces" among others but can't seem to get through it - and don't worry I didn't actually buy it; borrowed it from a friend. Quote
tomtom Posted February 6, 2006 Posted February 6, 2006 Fooled by Randomness - basically saying that we're not as smart as we think we are. Quote
NYC007 Posted February 6, 2006 Posted February 6, 2006 Under the Banner of Heaven is a great book. A outside look into the backside of the Mormon religon. Quote
Dechristo Posted February 6, 2006 Posted February 6, 2006 Conan Doyle's A Study In Scarlet touched on this. Quote
EWolfe Posted February 6, 2006 Posted February 6, 2006 Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" Trilogy is really good so far. Quote
Distel32 Posted February 6, 2006 Posted February 6, 2006 The Siberians by Farley Mowat Papillon by henri charriere extinction club by some brit, actually wasn't that good of a book Quote
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