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Lets discuss books.
I'm currently reading Lo lita(I think the spam filter blocks this word) and I've found it compelling.
I'm unsure of what to read next though, out of my borrowed collection what should I read next wizzies?
I'm unsure of what to read next though, out of my borrowed collection what should I read next wizzies?
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>>15208
How does this thumbnail inversion happen? I've seen it happen a few time on imageboards.
How does this thumbnail inversion happen? I've seen it happen a few time on imageboards.
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After I've read a book ("Gay, straight and the reason why") by one of the most distinguished scientists of sexual orientation, which has too many obvious mistakes, such as claim that androgynous and feminine men are not popular with gays (the author is gay also, so it's even more surprising) and in general mixing gender (maasculinity/feminity - which are itself social constructions, look up what defines femininty in Reneissance) and sexual orientation. So I've decided to inquire more about the topic and check pic related. This is a devastating critique, from a scientific point of view, of the current paradigm of "brain sex", expressed by a famous book under the same title, which is also a politically correct view, since for some reasons LGBT activists thinks that "born this way" hypothesis is politically stategic argument.
Must read to those who have thought about whether fapping to feminine boys is gay or not. Depends :^)
If you don't want to ruin your eyes you could hear a lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M169B4G4PJA&spfreload=10
Must read to those who have thought about whether fapping to feminine boys is gay or not. Depends :^)
If you don't want to ruin your eyes you could hear a lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M169B4G4PJA&spfreload=10
Currently reading My Life of Leon Trotsky. I almost finished in fact, I'm in the last few chapter where he talk about the civil war.
>>15208
I'd say The Pale King. It's the book DFW wrote before he killed himself and it's probably filled with all the dark thoughts that were going though his mind before he did it.
I'd say The Pale King. It's the book DFW wrote before he killed himself and it's probably filled with all the dark thoughts that were going though his mind before he did it.
>>15618
The Pale King is really good, but I wouldn't call it "dark", anymore so than Infinite Jest was dark.
The Pale King is really good, but I wouldn't call it "dark", anymore so than Infinite Jest was dark.
I like books based around children(adults too) that have something awful happen like a war and end up doing some sort of adventure to survive.
A small free kiss in the dark, and Bloody jack are down the right path. Can anyone recommend me some books I may like?
A small free kiss in the dark, and Bloody jack are down the right path. Can anyone recommend me some books I may like?
>>15618
I'm reading pale king now, as of now every story has been pretty silly. But due to the structure of the book it seems like it could turn on a dime.
I'm reading pale king now, as of now every story has been pretty silly. But due to the structure of the book it seems like it could turn on a dime.
I've had lots of money for books since I became a wageslave. My copy of The Brothers Karamazov should be arriving soon.
I'd like to know what are you favorite writers?
Mine are mostly from the 19th century. Russians are outstanding, especially Dosto and Gogol from my point of view, and I have a soft spot for Boulgakov. And among the French, I love Maupassant, Zola, and Céline.
I'd like to have some suggestion for modern authors, especially Latin/South American. I've read a long time ago a short novel by a Mexican author that was published in book magazine, and I quite like it, but I can't remember his name.
Mine are mostly from the 19th century. Russians are outstanding, especially Dosto and Gogol from my point of view, and I have a soft spot for Boulgakov. And among the French, I love Maupassant, Zola, and Céline.
I'd like to have some suggestion for modern authors, especially Latin/South American. I've read a long time ago a short novel by a Mexican author that was published in book magazine, and I quite like it, but I can't remember his name.
Reading "Le Rêve de L'escalier" by Dino Buzzati. No idea how it is named in English or Italian. It's a collection of short novel.
>>15564
I don't really want to read a whole book on that subject but would it seem to suggest your could change your sexual orientation through incremental changes in fap material?
I don't really want to read a whole book on that subject but would it seem to suggest your could change your sexual orientation through incremental changes in fap material?
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I finished The Pale King, I think I liked it, it felt more like a collection of short stories than a novel but they all kind of fit together. I would recommend it if you okay with some stories that dont lead to anything. I started reading pic related.
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I finished the fall, it was a pretty cozy read. Starting to read pic related.
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I got a kindle when they were $50 during the black friday stuff. Well worth it for making long posts easier to read. And also making obscure books easier to get.
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>>16932
>I got a kindle when they were $50 during the black friday stuff
But I saw someone on another imageboard say that a kindle costs as much as a pizza. What the fuck.
>I got a kindle when they were $50 during the black friday stuff
But I saw someone on another imageboard say that a kindle costs as much as a pizza. What the fuck.
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The last book I read was "Initiation into Philosophy" by Émile Faguet.
My plan was to use it as a study guide and study everything starting from ancient Greece. When I started researching it was too much so now that is postponed.
But I liked the book and it is on project gutenberg.
Today I started "The Concept of Dread" by Kierkegaard and it left me very unmotivated. Is it possible for someone to go from not understanding a more difficult book and concepts, to understand them? Has anyone here been successful in that, or I will have to content myself with reading dumbed-down texts?
I don´t know if the problem is that I don´t understand the concepts, or if I have no capacity to understand them.
My plan was to use it as a study guide and study everything starting from ancient Greece. When I started researching it was too much so now that is postponed.
But I liked the book and it is on project gutenberg.
Today I started "The Concept of Dread" by Kierkegaard and it left me very unmotivated. Is it possible for someone to go from not understanding a more difficult book and concepts, to understand them? Has anyone here been successful in that, or I will have to content myself with reading dumbed-down texts?
I don´t know if the problem is that I don´t understand the concepts, or if I have no capacity to understand them.
>>16957
> Is it possible for someone to go from not understanding a more difficult book and concepts, to understand them?
I think the way to do this is to approach it like a math textbook, not like a story book. In a story you only have to carry the most important parts and the names of characters, almost everything else is just for mood. But with a calculus book, you examine and re-examine every paragraph, you move through pages at the pace of understanding, and you make sure you understand by not just taking notes, but by copying the proofs, asking yourself questions, and performing exercises to make sure you've followed the logic. I don't know how well this would apply to "The Concept of Dread," but maybe you could look up another philosopher's comments on it or an online review of it, write down any questions or objections you have to that person's opinion of it, and then re-read The Concept of Dread and try to either answer those questions from the source, or see if you can reconcile your opinion with the other person, or at least see how he arrived at his conclusions.
But this might not be what you mean by understanding, since it's a very schoolwork-oriented way of doing things, and so it might be better for making an opinion conform to authority than actually developing independent and personal interpretation/understanding.
> Is it possible for someone to go from not understanding a more difficult book and concepts, to understand them?
I think the way to do this is to approach it like a math textbook, not like a story book. In a story you only have to carry the most important parts and the names of characters, almost everything else is just for mood. But with a calculus book, you examine and re-examine every paragraph, you move through pages at the pace of understanding, and you make sure you understand by not just taking notes, but by copying the proofs, asking yourself questions, and performing exercises to make sure you've followed the logic. I don't know how well this would apply to "The Concept of Dread," but maybe you could look up another philosopher's comments on it or an online review of it, write down any questions or objections you have to that person's opinion of it, and then re-read The Concept of Dread and try to either answer those questions from the source, or see if you can reconcile your opinion with the other person, or at least see how he arrived at his conclusions.
But this might not be what you mean by understanding, since it's a very schoolwork-oriented way of doing things, and so it might be better for making an opinion conform to authority than actually developing independent and personal interpretation/understanding.
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>>16957
The special thing about philosophy is that the whole of it is something that can be derived from your own experience without even theoretically needing to read any authors, unless you're studying the history of philosophy which is something different than philosophy itself. i can't speak for what exactly your barriers of misunderstanding are, but if it's any consolation i know a common one is simply over-complication. philosophy is easy to accidentally valorize as inaccessible, and very often co-refers to the same things you have thought on your own at some point or another. lots of people are this way and cannot read philosophy because their own minds are already so entrenched in their own unique systems of relating things, and to submerse themselves with another's becomes jarring quickly. this especially applies to an author as psychologically narrative as Kierkegaard. try to let the content sink in a bit and chances are it'll flash back to you when a real life experience resonates with what you read, even if you didn't know what it meant until that point.
The special thing about philosophy is that the whole of it is something that can be derived from your own experience without even theoretically needing to read any authors, unless you're studying the history of philosophy which is something different than philosophy itself. i can't speak for what exactly your barriers of misunderstanding are, but if it's any consolation i know a common one is simply over-complication. philosophy is easy to accidentally valorize as inaccessible, and very often co-refers to the same things you have thought on your own at some point or another. lots of people are this way and cannot read philosophy because their own minds are already so entrenched in their own unique systems of relating things, and to submerse themselves with another's becomes jarring quickly. this especially applies to an author as psychologically narrative as Kierkegaard. try to let the content sink in a bit and chances are it'll flash back to you when a real life experience resonates with what you read, even if you didn't know what it meant until that point.
>>16957
Lots of philosophers build off of concepts they describe more fully in their previous works. Not only that, they also build off of the work of previous philosophers and assume that you know what they are talking about.
There's no shame in having Sparknotes open when you're first getting into a particular philosopher to help you get accustomed.
Lots of philosophers build off of concepts they describe more fully in their previous works. Not only that, they also build off of the work of previous philosophers and assume that you know what they are talking about.
There's no shame in having Sparknotes open when you're first getting into a particular philosopher to help you get accustomed.
>>17001
>>17004
>>17022
I started notetaking today, I think it is helping. My fear was that I didn´t have the intelligence to understand it, it is not the first time that I stumble upon a difficult part of a book and "give up".
Also it has a lot of religious concepts that I knew nothing about. After researching it is becoming easier.
And this is probably the first real philosophy book that I read, that might be the problem. It was an overreaction I think.
>>17004
>>17022
I started notetaking today, I think it is helping. My fear was that I didn´t have the intelligence to understand it, it is not the first time that I stumble upon a difficult part of a book and "give up".
Also it has a lot of religious concepts that I knew nothing about. After researching it is becoming easier.
And this is probably the first real philosophy book that I read, that might be the problem. It was an overreaction I think.
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Canticle for Leibowitz. I want to know more about it.
>>17121
I really liked that book when I was a teenager. Zerchi's Cat was one of the few emotionally appealing arguments against suicide I'd encountered during adolescence, pretty much every other emotional appeal I'd ever heard sounded ridiculous and hollow (I'm sure you know the type). Zerchi doesn't make the mistake of assuming that things will work out or that the problem is minor, fixable, or temporary. The book manages to be anti-suicide without trivializing or disrespecting suicide.
Learning that Walter M. Miller eventually killed himself was disconcerting.
The posthumous collaboration novel St. Leibowitz and the Wild Horse succubus was disappointing. But the anti-suicide argument was still handled better and more respectfully there than in most books; "I want to hear you say 'I love Philpeo Harq'" is a little too warlocky for my tastes, but it is at least coherent, and doesn't trivialize the suicidal.
I really liked that book when I was a teenager. Zerchi's Cat was one of the few emotionally appealing arguments against suicide I'd encountered during adolescence, pretty much every other emotional appeal I'd ever heard sounded ridiculous and hollow (I'm sure you know the type). Zerchi doesn't make the mistake of assuming that things will work out or that the problem is minor, fixable, or temporary. The book manages to be anti-suicide without trivializing or disrespecting suicide.
Learning that Walter M. Miller eventually killed himself was disconcerting.
The posthumous collaboration novel St. Leibowitz and the Wild Horse succubus was disappointing. But the anti-suicide argument was still handled better and more respectfully there than in most books; "I want to hear you say 'I love Philpeo Harq'" is a little too warlocky for my tastes, but it is at least coherent, and doesn't trivialize the suicidal.
>>17131
>Zerchi's Cat
>"I had a cat once, when I was a boy," the abbott murmured slowly. "He was a big grey tomcat with shoulders like a small bulldog and a head and neck to match, and that sort of slouchy insolence that makes some of them look like the Devil's own. He was pure cat. Do you know cats?"
>"A little."
>"Cat lovers don't know cats. You can't love all cats if you know cats, and the ones you can love if you know them are the ones the cat lovers don't even like. Zeke was that kind of cat."
>"This has a moral, of course?" She was watching him suspiciously.
>"Only that I killed him."
>"Stop. Whatever you're about to say, stop."
>"A truck hit him, crushed his back legs. He dragged himself under the house. Once in a while he'd make a noise like a cat fight and thrash around a little, but mostly he just lay quietly and waited. 'He ought to be destroyed,' they kept telling me… So finally I said I'd do it myself, if it had to be done. I got a gun and a shovel and took him out to the edge of the woods. I stretched him out on the ground while I dug a hole. Then I shot him through the head. It was a small bore rifle. Zeke thrashed a couple of times, then got up and started dragging himself toward some bushes. I shot him again. It knocked him flat, so I thought he was dead, and put him in the hole. After a couple of shovels of dirt, Zeke got up and pulled himself out of the hole and started for the bushes again. I was crying louder than the cat… He wanted to get to those bushes and just lie there and wait. I wished to God that I had only let him get to those bushes, and die the way a cat would if you just let it alone - with dignity. I never felt right about it. Zeke was only a cat, but -"
>"Shut up!" she whispered.
>"- but even the ancient pagans noticed that Nature imposes nothing on you that Nature doesn't prepare you to bear. If that is true even of a cat, then is it not more perfectly true of a creature with a rational intellect and will - whatever you may believe of Heaven?"
>Then, later on, Miller suggests the second half of Zerchi's Catholic argument: God does not ask you to bear anything that He has not born Himself. Whatever you are suffering, you are not alone, because the Christian God knows suffering too. Indeed, he voluntarily experienced it in order to accomplish our salvation. And Miller further notes that the avoidance of pain and the elevation of worldly security as a good above all others is the root of many evils. This is a truth accessible even to a non-Christian, I think. Why, after all, do people become addicted to drugs? In my observation, most addicts are addicts because they are trying to dull some sort of emotional pain. And what drives the illiberal radical left? The messianic belief that things like poverty can be wiped out once and for all if only we had the political will to fight for such an earthly utopia.
>Zerchi's Cat
>"I had a cat once, when I was a boy," the abbott murmured slowly. "He was a big grey tomcat with shoulders like a small bulldog and a head and neck to match, and that sort of slouchy insolence that makes some of them look like the Devil's own. He was pure cat. Do you know cats?"
>"A little."
>"Cat lovers don't know cats. You can't love all cats if you know cats, and the ones you can love if you know them are the ones the cat lovers don't even like. Zeke was that kind of cat."
>"This has a moral, of course?" She was watching him suspiciously.
>"Only that I killed him."
>"Stop. Whatever you're about to say, stop."
>"A truck hit him, crushed his back legs. He dragged himself under the house. Once in a while he'd make a noise like a cat fight and thrash around a little, but mostly he just lay quietly and waited. 'He ought to be destroyed,' they kept telling me… So finally I said I'd do it myself, if it had to be done. I got a gun and a shovel and took him out to the edge of the woods. I stretched him out on the ground while I dug a hole. Then I shot him through the head. It was a small bore rifle. Zeke thrashed a couple of times, then got up and started dragging himself toward some bushes. I shot him again. It knocked him flat, so I thought he was dead, and put him in the hole. After a couple of shovels of dirt, Zeke got up and pulled himself out of the hole and started for the bushes again. I was crying louder than the cat… He wanted to get to those bushes and just lie there and wait. I wished to God that I had only let him get to those bushes, and die the way a cat would if you just let it alone - with dignity. I never felt right about it. Zeke was only a cat, but -"
>"Shut up!" she whispered.
>"- but even the ancient pagans noticed that Nature imposes nothing on you that Nature doesn't prepare you to bear. If that is true even of a cat, then is it not more perfectly true of a creature with a rational intellect and will - whatever you may believe of Heaven?"
>Then, later on, Miller suggests the second half of Zerchi's Catholic argument: God does not ask you to bear anything that He has not born Himself. Whatever you are suffering, you are not alone, because the Christian God knows suffering too. Indeed, he voluntarily experienced it in order to accomplish our salvation. And Miller further notes that the avoidance of pain and the elevation of worldly security as a good above all others is the root of many evils. This is a truth accessible even to a non-Christian, I think. Why, after all, do people become addicted to drugs? In my observation, most addicts are addicts because they are trying to dull some sort of emotional pain. And what drives the illiberal radical left? The messianic belief that things like poverty can be wiped out once and for all if only we had the political will to fight for such an earthly utopia.
I want to pick up reading as a hobby now that I've grown out of video games. Problem is that when I read books in english they use all these fancy words that I have to translate all the time as english isn't my native language. So I get more caught up in learning the language then the actual content of the book and I get bored quickly…
Will this improve over time? I really want to educate my peasant brain. ..
Will this improve over time? I really want to educate my peasant brain. ..
>>17175
Why don't you read in you native tongue?
It will improve over time, the more you read, and the more new vocabulary you will assimilate.
Why don't you read in you native tongue?
It will improve over time, the more you read, and the more new vocabulary you will assimilate.
>>17177
If I read in my own tounge my book selection will be serverely limited.
I just get a bit frustrated when all I'm doing is just sitting and translating words and spend an hour to get through a few pages. Hopefully it will improve over time until I can read everything smoothly, so tired of being a dumb peasant. I need to become more intellectual and have some kind of leverage over these normies…
If I read in my own tounge my book selection will be serverely limited.
I just get a bit frustrated when all I'm doing is just sitting and translating words and spend an hour to get through a few pages. Hopefully it will improve over time until I can read everything smoothly, so tired of being a dumb peasant. I need to become more intellectual and have some kind of leverage over these normies…
>>17175
>>17179
English is also not my native language.
One thing I´m starting to do is to write the words I don´t understand and only after I finish the chapter, I look them up, read the phrase where they were again, hear an audio of them. But I don´t look up the words as I´m reading, I think it isn´t a good idea.
Also, your notetaking will improve, my first one was pretty bad, and now, a few months later, I already developed some methods to organize it better, not only for words, but for references etc.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Main_Page
http://www.howjsay.com/
These two and google translate are enough for me.
>>17179
English is also not my native language.
One thing I´m starting to do is to write the words I don´t understand and only after I finish the chapter, I look them up, read the phrase where they were again, hear an audio of them. But I don´t look up the words as I´m reading, I think it isn´t a good idea.
Also, your notetaking will improve, my first one was pretty bad, and now, a few months later, I already developed some methods to organize it better, not only for words, but for references etc.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Main_Page
http://www.howjsay.com/
These two and google translate are enough for me.
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I remember reading this in school and enjoying it more than anything else I'd read in my life up until that point. People call the protagonist edgy, but I thoroughly enjoyed his perspective and identified with him in a way that I've yet to identify with another fictional protagonist.
Is there anymore literature out there about brutally honest protagonists who shit all over the people they deem inauthentic?
Is there anymore literature out there about brutally honest protagonists who shit all over the people they deem inauthentic?
>>17458
You might like The Fall by Camus, if you havent already read it. I've been trying to write why you should read it without spoiling anything but it is difficult for me. Its like catcher in the rye if Holden realized he was the phony(a very poor analogy for it).
You might like The Fall by Camus, if you havent already read it. I've been trying to write why you should read it without spoiling anything but it is difficult for me. Its like catcher in the rye if Holden realized he was the phony(a very poor analogy for it).
I've been looking everywhere for this book. For some reason I thought it was written by a French Catholic so I had been googling for that. I never would have found this book again. Luckily it was preserved in the Reading Thread I. From the description it sounds interesting.
http://againstpolitics.com/2010/11/27/andy-nowickis-considering-suicide/
>Andy Nowicki’s book ‘Considering Suicide’ belongs to, what I would call, the cultural alienation genre. Nowicki’s alienation is not of the Marxist variety that rails against division of labor and harbors the juvenile desire that all work should be play. No, Nowicki is fundamentally not at home in this world and believes that everything that makes life worth living has been lost to a meaningless, shallow and vulgar culture. People with Nowicki’s beliefs and temperament have a real problem. They have nowhere to go. To Nowicki, this culture is of such a universal and invading nature that the only choice is to endure it or live outside modern civilization itself. In this predicament, it is not surprising that the author considers the question of suicide.
http://againstpolitics.com/2010/11/27/andy-nowickis-considering-suicide/
>Andy Nowicki’s book ‘Considering Suicide’ belongs to, what I would call, the cultural alienation genre. Nowicki’s alienation is not of the Marxist variety that rails against division of labor and harbors the juvenile desire that all work should be play. No, Nowicki is fundamentally not at home in this world and believes that everything that makes life worth living has been lost to a meaningless, shallow and vulgar culture. People with Nowicki’s beliefs and temperament have a real problem. They have nowhere to go. To Nowicki, this culture is of such a universal and invading nature that the only choice is to endure it or live outside modern civilization itself. In this predicament, it is not surprising that the author considers the question of suicide.
Lately I've been rediscovering the main literary artist of my nation. Obviously we were taught about them in high school, but it's been almost 10 years since I finished that. Primarily I'm focusing on poetry, as I find it soothing, complex, contemplative. I like how the artists had such an ability to write out the feelings that I know so very well, to capture the familiar motives of shame, regret, guilt, anger, futility, and inadequacy.
I will further continue to explore poetry, as it made a big impression on me.
I will further continue to explore poetry, as it made a big impression on me.
It surprises me that reading isn't very popular on wizchan.
It's one of the most wizardly activities really, much better than rotting away on wizchan.
It's one of the most wizardly activities really, much better than rotting away on wizchan.
>>18250
I loved to read as a kid, however nowadays my attention span is so fucked up I can't enjoy it. So I stick to movies.
I loved to read as a kid, however nowadays my attention span is so fucked up I can't enjoy it. So I stick to movies.
>>18250
It's hard to get started.
However, when I first sat down recently with a book during a boring night I sat there reading for five hours, and then did the same thing the two days after, finishing the book I had been otherwise reading incredibly slowly over large swathes of time.
It's hard to get started.
However, when I first sat down recently with a book during a boring night I sat there reading for five hours, and then did the same thing the two days after, finishing the book I had been otherwise reading incredibly slowly over large swathes of time.
>>18250
I've read more books this years than any other year, I think I read between 10 and 15 books, most recently I finished "Go set a watchman" which I enjoyed.
I've read more books this years than any other year, I think I read between 10 and 15 books, most recently I finished "Go set a watchman" which I enjoyed.
Does anybody know of any books they've read on fitness? Or anything related to exercising while being severely underweight.
I'd really appreciate it if anybody could recommend me anything. I rather not read articles over the internet.
I'd really appreciate it if anybody could recommend me anything. I rather not read articles over the internet.
>>18276
I read Starting Strength, I thought it was OK. It only has a chapter on nutrition though, which is pretty important if you're underweight, it's mostly just an explanation of the biomechanics of lifting and how to lifts weights with proper form.
I read Starting Strength, I thought it was OK. It only has a chapter on nutrition though, which is pretty important if you're underweight, it's mostly just an explanation of the biomechanics of lifting and how to lifts weights with proper form.
>>19914
Try reading a novella, if you try reading something that isn't very interesting(like a textbook) your will get bored. If you can't read a novella I don't know what to tell you.
Try reading a novella, if you try reading something that isn't very interesting(like a textbook) your will get bored. If you can't read a novella I don't know what to tell you.
>>19931
or more specifically read something would be of interest to you, something were the main character might be somewhat similar to you such as the Welcome to the NHK novel, it's writing is fairly simple and you've probably already gone through the story before.
or more specifically read something would be of interest to you, something were the main character might be somewhat similar to you such as the Welcome to the NHK novel, it's writing is fairly simple and you've probably already gone through the story before.
>>15564
Androgynous and feminine men aren't popular at all in gay culture if you compare mobile-app hookup data looking for who gets hit on the most surprise it's bears.
I feel that the media at large has obscured what the gay community finds appealing.
Androgynous and feminine men aren't popular at all in gay culture if you compare mobile-app hookup data looking for who gets hit on the most surprise it's bears.
I feel that the media at large has obscured what the gay community finds appealing.
>>21303
For real? Damn. I always thought their whole trip is about having a boyfriend that looks like g!rlfriend.
Turns out that queers are just insecure little g!rls seeking a surrogate father.
For real? Damn. I always thought their whole trip is about having a boyfriend that looks like g!rlfriend.
Turns out that queers are just insecure little g!rls seeking a surrogate father.
>>16522
Technically speaking, it is theoretically possible to game the reward system of the brain, and thus "change" your sexual orientation.
Whether or not it is a 'true' change or an adaptive response to a perceived threat, is up for debate. We will likely never know, because something like this would require human trails. And psychological experiments on humans has been outlawed for pretty good reasons.
I personally don't think you could change your orientation fully (that is making your brain physically not be attracted to whichever sex you are trying to avoid) without extensive so-called "corrective" therapy. And going that route would probably do severe psychological damage while only having a theoretical possibility of success. It being possible to convert yourself from a full homo/heterosexual person to a bisexual person, however, I think is very likely. I'm not entirely sure what the benefits of this kind of thing would be. I would much rather support scientific research into finding a way to zap all sexual attraction.
Technically speaking, it is theoretically possible to game the reward system of the brain, and thus "change" your sexual orientation.
Whether or not it is a 'true' change or an adaptive response to a perceived threat, is up for debate. We will likely never know, because something like this would require human trails. And psychological experiments on humans has been outlawed for pretty good reasons.
I personally don't think you could change your orientation fully (that is making your brain physically not be attracted to whichever sex you are trying to avoid) without extensive so-called "corrective" therapy. And going that route would probably do severe psychological damage while only having a theoretical possibility of success. It being possible to convert yourself from a full homo/heterosexual person to a bisexual person, however, I think is very likely. I'm not entirely sure what the benefits of this kind of thing would be. I would much rather support scientific research into finding a way to zap all sexual attraction.
>>22937
From second hand books stalls and stores, and internet for stuff that I can only get in digital format, that are too expansive, or not available.
From second hand books stalls and stores, and internet for stuff that I can only get in digital format, that are too expansive, or not available.
I'm currently reading America's Secret Establishment- An Introduction to the Order of Skull & Bones by Antony Sutton.
Quite the eye opener if you ask me, contemporary History never made more sense.
Quite the eye opener if you ask me, contemporary History never made more sense.
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This was the first "real book" I ever read.
I have fond memories of it.
I have fond memories of it.
Not to trigger anyone here but I read "The Second Sex", a major "real feminist" book and some chapters in the second part of the book were quite enlightening.
Also read "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" and "On the Shortness of Life (Seneca) but they didn't give me much.
Also read "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" and "On the Shortness of Life (Seneca) but they didn't give me much.
>>26616
>Not to trigger anyone here but I read "The Second Sex", a major "real feminist" book and some chapters in the second part of the book were quite enlightening.
Tell us the enlightening bit to save us from the dribble.
>Not to trigger anyone here but I read "The Second Sex", a major "real feminist" book and some chapters in the second part of the book were quite enlightening.
Tell us the enlightening bit to save us from the dribble.
>>26616
The only writings on feminism I can really stand are ether ones written by choice feminist or dry history type books from a outside academic type who gives no shit what feminist think and just focuses on the facts.
All the other stuff is total and complete bullshit.
The only writings on feminism I can really stand are ether ones written by choice feminist or dry history type books from a outside academic type who gives no shit what feminist think and just focuses on the facts.
All the other stuff is total and complete bullshit.
>>26680
>choice Feminists
Aren't those the favorite slut Feminists of the MRAs because they say its perfectly OK to fuck Chad if you CHOOSE?
>choice Feminists
Aren't those the favorite slut Feminists of the MRAs because they say its perfectly OK to fuck Chad if you CHOOSE?
>>26692
No, they are the feminist that actually believe in individualism and personal responsibility. Unlike most other camps of feminism with are centered around collectivism and victim ranking.
A example is Christina Hoff Sommers.
No, they are the feminist that actually believe in individualism and personal responsibility. Unlike most other camps of feminism with are centered around collectivism and victim ranking.
A example is Christina Hoff Sommers.
>>26744
You mean the Feminists, Chad is ok with because he can have all the sex he wants without having to worry about rape accusations?
You mean the Feminists, Chad is ok with because he can have all the sex he wants without having to worry about rape accusations?
>>26745
I don't think "chad" knows what feminism is in enough detail to sort out the different kinds, nor would he care.
I don't think "chad" knows what feminism is in enough detail to sort out the different kinds, nor would he care.
>>26750
Tucker Max thinks "3rd wave choice Feminism" is fine if it means coed sluts choosing to have sex with him as opposed to man-hating anti-sex 2nd wave feminists.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tucker-max/pass-the-beer-in-defense-_b_22530.html
>But the Third Wave feminists did not want another
set of rules, they wanted personal freedom, and some of them preferred
the option of alternate sexual mores like bi-sexuality and sluttiness.
This is why Third Wave feminism arose; it was a reaction against the
oppression of the Second Wave. Plainly put, the Second Wave feminists
were Jane Pauley and Gloria Steinem, and the Third Wave feminists were
Britney Spears, Suicide succubi and Margaret Cho.
>(As a slight aside, I would go so far as to say that many feminists,
especially Second Wave feminists, actually HATE succubi. Not the
minority of succubi who agree with them, but the majority of actual
succubi in the world, the ones who wax their legs and wear high heels,
who distance themselves from radical feminism and actually like men.
The hard-core Second Wave feminists think so little of succubi that they
are compelled to control them, tell them what’s acceptable to read or
enjoy or think is funny and dictate whom it’s permissible to be
attracted to, i.e. to tell them that they are supposed to hate Maddox
and I because we aren’t pussy-whipped sycophants. Well fuck that. It
is not an accident that at 30-40% of our fans are succubi. Ladies,
unlike the feminist illuminati who disparage your personal choices
when they don’t fall into line with their radical views, I will not
ignore and disregard your decisions. I am glad you are reading my work
and I personally welcome you as fans.)
Tucker Max thinks "3rd wave choice Feminism" is fine if it means coed sluts choosing to have sex with him as opposed to man-hating anti-sex 2nd wave feminists.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tucker-max/pass-the-beer-in-defense-_b_22530.html
>But the Third Wave feminists did not want another
set of rules, they wanted personal freedom, and some of them preferred
the option of alternate sexual mores like bi-sexuality and sluttiness.
This is why Third Wave feminism arose; it was a reaction against the
oppression of the Second Wave. Plainly put, the Second Wave feminists
were Jane Pauley and Gloria Steinem, and the Third Wave feminists were
Britney Spears, Suicide succubi and Margaret Cho.
>(As a slight aside, I would go so far as to say that many feminists,
especially Second Wave feminists, actually HATE succubi. Not the
minority of succubi who agree with them, but the majority of actual
succubi in the world, the ones who wax their legs and wear high heels,
who distance themselves from radical feminism and actually like men.
The hard-core Second Wave feminists think so little of succubi that they
are compelled to control them, tell them what’s acceptable to read or
enjoy or think is funny and dictate whom it’s permissible to be
attracted to, i.e. to tell them that they are supposed to hate Maddox
and I because we aren’t pussy-whipped sycophants. Well fuck that. It
is not an accident that at 30-40% of our fans are succubi. Ladies,
unlike the feminist illuminati who disparage your personal choices
when they don’t fall into line with their radical views, I will not
ignore and disregard your decisions. I am glad you are reading my work
and I personally welcome you as fans.)
>>26768
>Tucker Max
Who the fuck is that and why should I care?
As far as I can tell he is just another opinionated ass on huffingtonpost.
Is this a appeal to authority using some fag with no authority.
>Tucker Max
Who the fuck is that and why should I care?
As far as I can tell he is just another opinionated ass on huffingtonpost.
Is this a appeal to authority using some fag with no authority.
>>26786
He is one guy who is not representative of chads as a group.
Most people (aka normalfags) including chads don't give a flying fuck about feminist irl. Most think of them as men hating controlling cunts and leave it at that.
Using a lone exception does not prove chads give a shit about feminism. Chad don't really care what the fuck ideology the chick he is after has. He only cares about how hot she is and how best to get in her pants.
He is one guy who is not representative of chads as a group.
Most people (aka normalfags) including chads don't give a flying fuck about feminist irl. Most think of them as men hating controlling cunts and leave it at that.
Using a lone exception does not prove chads give a shit about feminism. Chad don't really care what the fuck ideology the chick he is after has. He only cares about how hot she is and how best to get in her pants.
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Reading The Stranger by Albert Camus and about to read Notes From Underground by Dostoyevski.
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>>17458
I read The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath a long while ago, and I remember thinking at the time that it striked me as Catcher in the Rye but with a female protagonist. The narrator is disillusioned with the world, and becoming more so. She is also slowly losing her mind, like in Catcher. Because the protagonist is female, it might be off-putting to some people here, but I enjoyed it nonetheless just for the depression and wretchedness she feels that I can in turn identify with. The fact that Plath did kill herself and many believe this book to contain her explanation of why she did it just makes it more interesting in my opinion.
I will say though, that I loved Catcher too, and honestly have never read anything quite like it or exactly on its level, so of course this recommendation doesn't really measure up, but none do.
>>17808
I wanted to for curiosity's sake, but the guy just rambles and rambles some more, while also going on a hundred tangents, none of which are very interesting. Impossibly boring even considering the author.
>>18250
I agree reading is a fantastic hobby, and entirely suited for the wizard life. I think it is, must be, popular at least with the posters who have written my favorite posts on here, since they come off as such. But I feel depression is probably a main reason for why wizzies wouldn't be into reading. Reading takes a lot of concentration, which suffers under depression.
I read The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath a long while ago, and I remember thinking at the time that it striked me as Catcher in the Rye but with a female protagonist. The narrator is disillusioned with the world, and becoming more so. She is also slowly losing her mind, like in Catcher. Because the protagonist is female, it might be off-putting to some people here, but I enjoyed it nonetheless just for the depression and wretchedness she feels that I can in turn identify with. The fact that Plath did kill herself and many believe this book to contain her explanation of why she did it just makes it more interesting in my opinion.
I will say though, that I loved Catcher too, and honestly have never read anything quite like it or exactly on its level, so of course this recommendation doesn't really measure up, but none do.
>>17808
I wanted to for curiosity's sake, but the guy just rambles and rambles some more, while also going on a hundred tangents, none of which are very interesting. Impossibly boring even considering the author.
>>18250
I agree reading is a fantastic hobby, and entirely suited for the wizard life. I think it is, must be, popular at least with the posters who have written my favorite posts on here, since they come off as such. But I feel depression is probably a main reason for why wizzies wouldn't be into reading. Reading takes a lot of concentration, which suffers under depression.
I'm going to dedicate the next month to moving through the Ulysses's Infinte Rainbow. Are they really as hard as normies make them out to be?
I found out recently my reading speed is only half of the average. How can I fix this or is it too late for me?
>>27016
>Ulysses
Mixes writing styles, so you might find a section that's hard to get thru just for the way it's written being intolerable. It's a bout as "tough" as POTAAAYM .
>Infinite Jest
Easy to read and written like many other modern novels. A bit of fake difficulty from the SAT words and technical terms he uses, not a big issue. Easiest out of the three but i suspect it's the most shallow of the three too .
>Gravity's Rainbow
Unsure. Loaded up three random samples on kindle to sheck. Wasn't much different than any othe rPynchon story .
>Ulysses
Mixes writing styles, so you might find a section that's hard to get thru just for the way it's written being intolerable. It's a bout as "tough" as POTAAAYM .
>Infinite Jest
Easy to read and written like many other modern novels. A bit of fake difficulty from the SAT words and technical terms he uses, not a big issue. Easiest out of the three but i suspect it's the most shallow of the three too .
>Gravity's Rainbow
Unsure. Loaded up three random samples on kindle to sheck. Wasn't much different than any othe rPynchon story .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belles_Heures_of_Jean_de_France,_Duc_de_Berry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tr%C3%A8s_Riches_Heures_du_Duc_de_Berry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_Historiale
I've bought a second hand artbook on the Belles and Très Riches Heures (prayer book)and Bible Historiale of the duke of Berry, son of the King of France, and big collector of art at the time.
The condition is quite remarkable, as if it wasn't touched by the previous owner.
I haven't read much of it, but my impression is that it's a great book. It contain a full scale reproduction of the three books with great detail, accompanied with readable transcription of the text, a translation, and the biblical or historical context.
It's about 450 pages, and chapters covering the Limbourg brothers (the ones who were commissioned to make it), the sources, influence and the art in France in 1400s, a study on the structure of the manuscript, technical observation on the Belles Heures (likes the fabrication process, and conservation measure. So it's very complete.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tr%C3%A8s_Riches_Heures_du_Duc_de_Berry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_Historiale
I've bought a second hand artbook on the Belles and Très Riches Heures (prayer book)and Bible Historiale of the duke of Berry, son of the King of France, and big collector of art at the time.
The condition is quite remarkable, as if it wasn't touched by the previous owner.
I haven't read much of it, but my impression is that it's a great book. It contain a full scale reproduction of the three books with great detail, accompanied with readable transcription of the text, a translation, and the biblical or historical context.
It's about 450 pages, and chapters covering the Limbourg brothers (the ones who were commissioned to make it), the sources, influence and the art in France in 1400s, a study on the structure of the manuscript, technical observation on the Belles Heures (likes the fabrication process, and conservation measure. So it's very complete.
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>>17153
so he let the cat be in pain while he dug the hole?
He didnt shoot it enough to make sure it was dead or use the shovel to beat it to death since his gun is shit?
And he wish he hadn't even done what he did but let it be in pain longer?
That is some twisted Mother Teresa logic. Religious people is simply awful.
No fucking wonder he killed himself, because his world was created only for suffering in the name of God. I hope it hurt a long time for him!
That is a truly collectivist fascist view of life(death).
WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT FOR THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN?” ― Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man
so he let the cat be in pain while he dug the hole?
He didnt shoot it enough to make sure it was dead or use the shovel to beat it to death since his gun is shit?
And he wish he hadn't even done what he did but let it be in pain longer?
That is some twisted Mother Teresa logic. Religious people is simply awful.
No fucking wonder he killed himself, because his world was created only for suffering in the name of God. I hope it hurt a long time for him!
That is a truly collectivist fascist view of life(death).
WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT FOR THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN?” ― Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man
Why is it that most aspects of pop culture (i.e. music and film) are garbage but highly regarded literature usually lives up to its praise? (In my experience, anyways)
I read timeless classics and usually enjoy myself quite a bit, but when I read less praised and more obscure books, the authors always fail to deliver. Am I just a uncultured pleb looking in the wrong places?
I read timeless classics and usually enjoy myself quite a bit, but when I read less praised and more obscure books, the authors always fail to deliver. Am I just a uncultured pleb looking in the wrong places?
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>>27843
wikipedia shows this halfway in the second link, is it really in the prayer book? that would be very cool coincidence if so!
i always liked it because of the blue color, that one guy is warming his dick by the fire, and none of the people seem appropriately dressed for the weather.
wikipedia shows this halfway in the second link, is it really in the prayer book? that would be very cool coincidence if so!
i always liked it because of the blue color, that one guy is warming his dick by the fire, and none of the people seem appropriately dressed for the weather.
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>>16674
I'm currently reading Ligotti. Does anyone have recommendation for the horror genre? I like the idea of horror fiction but it seems not many authors are actually good at it. I really like Lovecraft for his ideas but his writing is rather shitty, sometimes outright bad if you compare with writers outside the horror genre. I wonder why is that. I've read a few things from Poe, Walpole, Erckmann-Chatrian and I liked those. Anyway, if anyone have some recommendations I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.
I'm currently reading Ligotti. Does anyone have recommendation for the horror genre? I like the idea of horror fiction but it seems not many authors are actually good at it. I really like Lovecraft for his ideas but his writing is rather shitty, sometimes outright bad if you compare with writers outside the horror genre. I wonder why is that. I've read a few things from Poe, Walpole, Erckmann-Chatrian and I liked those. Anyway, if anyone have some recommendations I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.
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>>29342
>"I had a cat once, when I was a boy," the abbot murmured slowly.
He was a child at the time. It was difficult for him.
>'He ought to be destroyed,' they kept telling me… So finally I said I'd do it myself, if it had to be done.
Sounds like a few days have passed since the cat was run over. The poor kid has probably spent the nights by the cat's side crying and coming to terms with what's happening. It's not easy to let go.
>>That is a truly collectivist fascist view of life(death).
>He wanted to get to those bushes and just lie there and wait. I wished to God that I had only let him get to those bushes, and die the way a cat would if you just let it alone - with dignity.
>He wanted to get to those bushes and just lie there and wait
How is that fascist and collectivist? To me, your opinion is fascist and collectivist because you're saying the boy-abbot should've intervened and got himself involved in the cat's experience of death (which is exactly what he did and felt guilty about), when the cat wanted to die alone.
On a personal note, if I ever kill myself, I definitely do not want others to be involved. My death is my own. I don't want to be saved, nor do I want a mercy bullet from some well-meaning asshole.
>Religious people is simply awful.No fucking wonder he killed himself, because his world was created only for suffering in the name of God. I hope it hurt a long time for him!
I love Terry P. and am sad that he's no longer with us writing stories. Listened to Stem in Alium (the song he wanted played at his funeral) the day he died.
His view of religion is much more humanist than yours. Sure, he pokes fun at it, but it's never the mean-spirited "hurr religious ppl sure are retards" /r/atheism type of humor. For Terry P. religion was this huge part of humanity, the expression of our struggles in reconciling ourselves with this world. Like everything human, it is flawed. Sometimes there's great beauty and meaning in it, sometimes it's quite ugly. Terry was the kind of man who, without being very religious himself, could appreciate the Sistine Chapel, the choral music, and the underlying messages in Jesus' story.
Sorry if it looks like I'm proselytizing here. I just found your reference to the "Reaper Man" (a great book, by the way, I'm glad you've liked it) to be at odds with the rest of your post. I'll leave you with another Pratchett's quotes that hopefully sums up his position better than I did:
"“All right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need… fantasies to make life bearable."
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—"
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
"So we can believe the big ones?"
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
"They're not the same at all!"
YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME…SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point—"
MY POINT EXACTLY.”
>"I had a cat once, when I was a boy," the abbot murmured slowly.
He was a child at the time. It was difficult for him.
>'He ought to be destroyed,' they kept telling me… So finally I said I'd do it myself, if it had to be done.
Sounds like a few days have passed since the cat was run over. The poor kid has probably spent the nights by the cat's side crying and coming to terms with what's happening. It's not easy to let go.
>>That is a truly collectivist fascist view of life(death).
>He wanted to get to those bushes and just lie there and wait. I wished to God that I had only let him get to those bushes, and die the way a cat would if you just let it alone - with dignity.
>He wanted to get to those bushes and just lie there and wait
How is that fascist and collectivist? To me, your opinion is fascist and collectivist because you're saying the boy-abbot should've intervened and got himself involved in the cat's experience of death (which is exactly what he did and felt guilty about), when the cat wanted to die alone.
On a personal note, if I ever kill myself, I definitely do not want others to be involved. My death is my own. I don't want to be saved, nor do I want a mercy bullet from some well-meaning asshole.
>Religious people is simply awful.No fucking wonder he killed himself, because his world was created only for suffering in the name of God. I hope it hurt a long time for him!
I love Terry P. and am sad that he's no longer with us writing stories. Listened to Stem in Alium (the song he wanted played at his funeral) the day he died.
His view of religion is much more humanist than yours. Sure, he pokes fun at it, but it's never the mean-spirited "hurr religious ppl sure are retards" /r/atheism type of humor. For Terry P. religion was this huge part of humanity, the expression of our struggles in reconciling ourselves with this world. Like everything human, it is flawed. Sometimes there's great beauty and meaning in it, sometimes it's quite ugly. Terry was the kind of man who, without being very religious himself, could appreciate the Sistine Chapel, the choral music, and the underlying messages in Jesus' story.
Sorry if it looks like I'm proselytizing here. I just found your reference to the "Reaper Man" (a great book, by the way, I'm glad you've liked it) to be at odds with the rest of your post. I'll leave you with another Pratchett's quotes that hopefully sums up his position better than I did:
"“All right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need… fantasies to make life bearable."
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—"
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
"So we can believe the big ones?"
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
"They're not the same at all!"
YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME…SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point—"
MY POINT EXACTLY.”
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I miss the times when I was an avid reader. Now I just sit behind the PC.
Currently I'm reading "Les Chants de Maldoror". It seems to be a kind of poetry (namely, prose poem). The author expresses a marked rencour towards society and God describing how Maldoror (the book's "protagonist") does some misdeeds and lauches insults towards them. I bet the author was a wizard.
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Books today look so ugly and cheap.
Older books are much more appealing, even the bad quality paperbacks
with the uncut pages. I think they are appealing because they look more authentic, what makes me want to physically interact with them. Plus they look better in your bookcase.
For some months now I have been looking everywhere for Tennyson's "Idylls of the King" with the Dore engravings.
Look at this beauty I can't afford:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Gustave-Dore-Illustrated-Idylls-Of-The-King-Alfred-Lord-Tennyson-1889-/262315172626?hash=item3d1333e312:g:dkcAAOSwRLZT5Bgl
Also I want to read "Tristan and Iseult" but I'm not sure which version to chose.
Older books are much more appealing, even the bad quality paperbacks
with the uncut pages. I think they are appealing because they look more authentic, what makes me want to physically interact with them. Plus they look better in your bookcase.
For some months now I have been looking everywhere for Tennyson's "Idylls of the King" with the Dore engravings.
Look at this beauty I can't afford:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Gustave-Dore-Illustrated-Idylls-Of-The-King-Alfred-Lord-Tennyson-1889-/262315172626?hash=item3d1333e312:g:dkcAAOSwRLZT5Bgl
Also I want to read "Tristan and Iseult" but I'm not sure which version to chose.
>>29958
Several new books I've had the page binding come undone. Then I read a very used Gravity's Rainbow from the early 70s and it held up fine. It's really absurd how bad the quality is if you don't shell out for hard cover.
Several new books I've had the page binding come undone. Then I read a very used Gravity's Rainbow from the early 70s and it held up fine. It's really absurd how bad the quality is if you don't shell out for hard cover.
Here's a dump of the books I've listened to or read in the past 2 or so years. A few are omitted but this is most of them.
Listened:
>A Savage War of Peace -Algeria 1954-1962
Long, detailed. France was a colonial piece of shit, and the Algerians were nationalist pieces of shit. Bloodshed follows.
>Barbara Mertz - Temples, Tombs and Hieroglyphs
TMS (The Modern Scholar) lecture.
>James Palmer - The Bloody White Baron
All about Baron Ungern, a half crazy brutal dictator that ran around Mongolia during the Russian Civil war acting as some kind of god-khan.
>Myths and Mysteries in Archaeology (Audio)
TMS lecture. I liked this one, it's more about actual myths than 'aliens didn't build the pyramids' (although that's covered)
>Zero to Infinity_ A History of Numbers (Audio)
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. TMS lecture.
>Origins of Life (Audio)
TMS lecture. I liked it.
>Stalingrad - The Fateful Seige - 1942-1943 - Anthony Beevor
Real brutal shit happens on the eastern front. Stalingrad was a carnal house.
>Mark Garrison - Guts N Gunships What It Was Really Like to Fly Combat Helicopters in Vietnam (Unabridged)
Not so much history but it's good. I recommend the audiobook heavily.
>Winchester, Simon - Outposts (Journeys to the Surviving Relics of British Empire)
A guy's trip around the bits of cold rock that are still part of the british empire as of 2000 or whenever. Pretty fun.
>TTC Audio - Origin of Civilization
Some lecture series (TTC?). Enjoyed as it covered more than just the fertile crescent. Pretty important if you want to understand where organised society came from in the first place.
>Barry Strauss - The Spartacus War
I accidentally listened to the chapters out of order and didn't notice.
>Richard Dawkins - The Ancestor's Tale - 2004
Narrated by dawkins himself which almost ruins this. I recommend reading it, it's a nice book. But his smarmy fucking accent annoys the shit out of me.
>Navy SEALs - Dick Couch and William Doyle
Is Dick Couch even a real name? Either way, it's a nice little meander around the formation of the Navy SEALs.
>Terence N. D'Altroy - The Incas - Inside an American Empire
Lecture series (TMS?). Covers almost everything about the incas, culture, religion, warfare, getting owned by the spanish.
>When America First Met China An Exotic History of Tea Drugs and Money in the Age of Sail
Covers the Opium wars which basically sets the stage for 20th century china. Also some stories about how tea plants were stolen to grow in india.
>Alistair Horne - Hubris
One of my all time favourites. Covers a few lesser known conflicts and ties them together in the theme of hubris.
>Albert Speer - Inside the Third Reich
Literal nazi. As a nazi that both did not die and was within hitler's intimate circle this is a pretty essential bit of reading to understand the Nazis.
>All the Shah's Men - Stephen Kinzer
Operation Ajax. America fucks over Iran, and basically ruins the 20th century. Important reading to understand the modern era.
>Eugene Rogan – The Arabs - A History (2009)
Starts when the ottomans conquer most of arabia, and covers to the late 20th century. Another essential to understand the 20th century, and the modern day.
>All of Dan Carlin's Hardcore History.
Takes the interesting parts of military history out. I don't think anyone can dislike this podcast. Of which they are so long (the recent ones are like 5 hours long) they're pretty much books.
Read:
>Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader - Martin, Bradley
Grorious North Korea. A collection of tales of defectors about the glorious success of socialism against capitalist pigdogs, so long as you ignore the capitalist pigdog lies. But really, torture camps, political prison, it's a real nasty place.
>Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad - Gordon Thomas
Most memorable is an account of a nazi assassination plot. Generally mossad being the CIA but competent. Which is fucking terrifying.
>Leningrad - Anna Reid
Leningrad was kept under siege in 1941 and so this is a tale of people starving to death, eating each other, and generally having a real bad time. Most memorable is that after the siege the people in the doctor's offices who had babies were looked at real nasty. (Starvation causes infertility ergo if they could give birth they were not starving like the rest of the city)
>Stalingrad - Beevor, Antony
Same as the audiobook, I read this then listened to it.
>The Bombing War: Europe 1939-1945 - Richard Overy
Account of strategic bombing (It's morale bombing when you do it and terror bombing when they do it). Generally a description of generals getting aroused from the idea of being able to murder more civilians.
>Roman Warfare - Adrian Goldsworthy
Short book about a few roman warfare things. It's a school book.
>The Great Big Book of Horrible Things: The Definitive Chronicle of History's 100 Worst Atrocities - Matthew White
One of my all-time favourites. Lots of chinese genocides simply because there are lots of chinese people. Contains most of /pol/'s heroes.
>The Face Of Battle: A Study of Agincourt, Waterloo and the Somme - John Keegan
I cannot remember much about this but it's a merger of 'european style warfare' under the banner of 3 big european battles.
>The Great War - Peter Hart
Good WW1 book. Puts in lots of quotes from people who were actually there to describe the general horrors.
>Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World
A book about how the ottoman empire got carved up (and caused many of the problems with the middle east we have today) as well as french being a nasty piece of work, determined to fuck up every good idea so they can keep their colonies (which they lose in extremely bloody warfare over the next 50 years anyway)
>A Brief History of the First World War - Jon E. Lewis
Less brief than it says. General WW1 books tend to blur together in my head.
This post is split into two parts. To read the rest of the post, flip the cassette over.
Listened:
>A Savage War of Peace -Algeria 1954-1962
Long, detailed. France was a colonial piece of shit, and the Algerians were nationalist pieces of shit. Bloodshed follows.
>Barbara Mertz - Temples, Tombs and Hieroglyphs
TMS (The Modern Scholar) lecture.
>James Palmer - The Bloody White Baron
All about Baron Ungern, a half crazy brutal dictator that ran around Mongolia during the Russian Civil war acting as some kind of god-khan.
>Myths and Mysteries in Archaeology (Audio)
TMS lecture. I liked this one, it's more about actual myths than 'aliens didn't build the pyramids' (although that's covered)
>Zero to Infinity_ A History of Numbers (Audio)
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. TMS lecture.
>Origins of Life (Audio)
TMS lecture. I liked it.
>Stalingrad - The Fateful Seige - 1942-1943 - Anthony Beevor
Real brutal shit happens on the eastern front. Stalingrad was a carnal house.
>Mark Garrison - Guts N Gunships What It Was Really Like to Fly Combat Helicopters in Vietnam (Unabridged)
Not so much history but it's good. I recommend the audiobook heavily.
>Winchester, Simon - Outposts (Journeys to the Surviving Relics of British Empire)
A guy's trip around the bits of cold rock that are still part of the british empire as of 2000 or whenever. Pretty fun.
>TTC Audio - Origin of Civilization
Some lecture series (TTC?). Enjoyed as it covered more than just the fertile crescent. Pretty important if you want to understand where organised society came from in the first place.
>Barry Strauss - The Spartacus War
I accidentally listened to the chapters out of order and didn't notice.
>Richard Dawkins - The Ancestor's Tale - 2004
Narrated by dawkins himself which almost ruins this. I recommend reading it, it's a nice book. But his smarmy fucking accent annoys the shit out of me.
>Navy SEALs - Dick Couch and William Doyle
Is Dick Couch even a real name? Either way, it's a nice little meander around the formation of the Navy SEALs.
>Terence N. D'Altroy - The Incas - Inside an American Empire
Lecture series (TMS?). Covers almost everything about the incas, culture, religion, warfare, getting owned by the spanish.
>When America First Met China An Exotic History of Tea Drugs and Money in the Age of Sail
Covers the Opium wars which basically sets the stage for 20th century china. Also some stories about how tea plants were stolen to grow in india.
>Alistair Horne - Hubris
One of my all time favourites. Covers a few lesser known conflicts and ties them together in the theme of hubris.
>Albert Speer - Inside the Third Reich
Literal nazi. As a nazi that both did not die and was within hitler's intimate circle this is a pretty essential bit of reading to understand the Nazis.
>All the Shah's Men - Stephen Kinzer
Operation Ajax. America fucks over Iran, and basically ruins the 20th century. Important reading to understand the modern era.
>Eugene Rogan – The Arabs - A History (2009)
Starts when the ottomans conquer most of arabia, and covers to the late 20th century. Another essential to understand the 20th century, and the modern day.
>All of Dan Carlin's Hardcore History.
Takes the interesting parts of military history out. I don't think anyone can dislike this podcast. Of which they are so long (the recent ones are like 5 hours long) they're pretty much books.
Read:
>Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader - Martin, Bradley
Grorious North Korea. A collection of tales of defectors about the glorious success of socialism against capitalist pigdogs, so long as you ignore the capitalist pigdog lies. But really, torture camps, political prison, it's a real nasty place.
>Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad - Gordon Thomas
Most memorable is an account of a nazi assassination plot. Generally mossad being the CIA but competent. Which is fucking terrifying.
>Leningrad - Anna Reid
Leningrad was kept under siege in 1941 and so this is a tale of people starving to death, eating each other, and generally having a real bad time. Most memorable is that after the siege the people in the doctor's offices who had babies were looked at real nasty. (Starvation causes infertility ergo if they could give birth they were not starving like the rest of the city)
>Stalingrad - Beevor, Antony
Same as the audiobook, I read this then listened to it.
>The Bombing War: Europe 1939-1945 - Richard Overy
Account of strategic bombing (It's morale bombing when you do it and terror bombing when they do it). Generally a description of generals getting aroused from the idea of being able to murder more civilians.
>Roman Warfare - Adrian Goldsworthy
Short book about a few roman warfare things. It's a school book.
>The Great Big Book of Horrible Things: The Definitive Chronicle of History's 100 Worst Atrocities - Matthew White
One of my all-time favourites. Lots of chinese genocides simply because there are lots of chinese people. Contains most of /pol/'s heroes.
>The Face Of Battle: A Study of Agincourt, Waterloo and the Somme - John Keegan
I cannot remember much about this but it's a merger of 'european style warfare' under the banner of 3 big european battles.
>The Great War - Peter Hart
Good WW1 book. Puts in lots of quotes from people who were actually there to describe the general horrors.
>Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World
A book about how the ottoman empire got carved up (and caused many of the problems with the middle east we have today) as well as french being a nasty piece of work, determined to fuck up every good idea so they can keep their colonies (which they lose in extremely bloody warfare over the next 50 years anyway)
>A Brief History of the First World War - Jon E. Lewis
Less brief than it says. General WW1 books tend to blur together in my head.
This post is split into two parts. To read the rest of the post, flip the cassette over.
>David Fletcher-Tanks and Trenches First Hand Accounts of Tank Warfare in the First World War
Picture book. One for the tank enthusiast.
>Myths and Legends of the First World War - James Hayward
Collection of historical curios, and a nice demonstration that people 100 years ago were just as braindead retarded as they are now.
>The First World War - John Keegan
Good WW1 book. Again, shit just mixes together. I think this one is a drier, 'strategical overview' type book.
>The Beauty and the Sorrow - Peter Englund
WW1 book. I think it's more of a down in the dirt type book.
>War of Annihilation - Combat and Genocide on the Eastern Front, 1941
Nazis move in, kill everything that moves, soviets move back and kill everything that didn't. The non-combatants got fucked hard.
>From Leningrad to Hungary: Notes of a Red Army soldier, 1941-1946
First hand account of a guy pushing with the soviets as a grunt into Germany. Pretty neat, talks about messing with cannons and fixing cables under artillery fire.
>The Price of Glory - Alistar Horne
WW1 book. I can't remember what's in this one. Maybe it's the one that's made of nothing but first hand accounts.
>The Marne, 1914: The Opening of World War I and the Battle That Changed the World - Holger Herwig
Surprisingly dry, and biased. The brave, heroic french stave off the disastrous barbarian hunnic hordes after a miracle. It's when the german army got stopped in france, and it changed the world for the worse.
>The Guns of August - Barbar Tuchman
WW1 book. Or is this the one with nothing but first hand accounts/letters?
>The Last Battle - Cornelius Ryan
The battle for Berlin. Soviets and Americans pushing into Berlin, hitler imploding, old men and kids sent to fight tanks, all the good stuff.
>Atomic Accidents - James Mahaffey
Every single major atomic accident. Well more or less. I read this book a few times since it's great.
>War - Gwynne Dyer
I can't remember a damn thing about this book. One of those 'overarching themes of conflict' books.
>The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West - Niall Ferguson
I did read this one. Overarching theme of conflict.
>Somme - Peter Hart
Another nice Peter Hart WW1 book. The Somme was pretty brutal.
>All the Kaiser's Men The Life and Death of the German Army on the Western Front 1914-1918 (2005) - Ian Passingham
WW1 book. Accounts of the German army's perspective of WW1.
>Storm of Steel - Ernst Junger
German Soldier account of WW1. One of the rare people who enjoyed the war. He was at the somme so he saw some of the worst bits. He came out of the war and still thought war was a good idea. This kind of mentality is what Hitler built on.
>The making of the atomic bomb -Simon & Schuster (1988) - Richard Rhodes
Classic.
>Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam - Nick Turse
Highly opinionated book about every civilian murder he could find. Keep this in context and it's not so bad, but it's very anti-vietnam. It's like; vietname was a massive war where millions died, and he's picking the worst of it, and presenting it as representative.
>Exorcising Hitler: The Occupation and Denazification of Germany - Frederick Taylor
Describes the efforts taken to remove nazis (party members) from prominent positions in the post war germany.
>Doctors in the Great War - Ian Whitehead
Putting it here because it's informative but I don't actually recommend reading this unless you're really interested in 1915 domestic politics.
>Gentlemen Volunteers - Arlen Hansen
About WW1 ambulance drivers. It's charming, as it's a story about americans who volunteered and drove around Model Ts around shell craters and such.
>The "Russian" Civil Wars, 1916-1926: Ten Years That Shook the World - Jonathan Smele
Very dry. For a war with so much carnage it was a mostly political description. A good book to put you to sleep.
>Carnage and Culture - Victor David Hanson
Something about the supremacy of the european style of war. Very opinionated. Mostly true but it shouldn't be taken as gospel, as he ignores the steppe peoples so his little theory fits. Still, describes some pretty important battles.
Unless otherwise mentioned I recommend each book. If you have any questions, feel free.
This is a dump of HISTORY books in particular, I thought I mentioned that at the start.
I might do other genres later, but this post took me over an hour.
Picture book. One for the tank enthusiast.
>Myths and Legends of the First World War - James Hayward
Collection of historical curios, and a nice demonstration that people 100 years ago were just as braindead retarded as they are now.
>The First World War - John Keegan
Good WW1 book. Again, shit just mixes together. I think this one is a drier, 'strategical overview' type book.
>The Beauty and the Sorrow - Peter Englund
WW1 book. I think it's more of a down in the dirt type book.
>War of Annihilation - Combat and Genocide on the Eastern Front, 1941
Nazis move in, kill everything that moves, soviets move back and kill everything that didn't. The non-combatants got fucked hard.
>From Leningrad to Hungary: Notes of a Red Army soldier, 1941-1946
First hand account of a guy pushing with the soviets as a grunt into Germany. Pretty neat, talks about messing with cannons and fixing cables under artillery fire.
>The Price of Glory - Alistar Horne
WW1 book. I can't remember what's in this one. Maybe it's the one that's made of nothing but first hand accounts.
>The Marne, 1914: The Opening of World War I and the Battle That Changed the World - Holger Herwig
Surprisingly dry, and biased. The brave, heroic french stave off the disastrous barbarian hunnic hordes after a miracle. It's when the german army got stopped in france, and it changed the world for the worse.
>The Guns of August - Barbar Tuchman
WW1 book. Or is this the one with nothing but first hand accounts/letters?
>The Last Battle - Cornelius Ryan
The battle for Berlin. Soviets and Americans pushing into Berlin, hitler imploding, old men and kids sent to fight tanks, all the good stuff.
>Atomic Accidents - James Mahaffey
Every single major atomic accident. Well more or less. I read this book a few times since it's great.
>War - Gwynne Dyer
I can't remember a damn thing about this book. One of those 'overarching themes of conflict' books.
>The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West - Niall Ferguson
I did read this one. Overarching theme of conflict.
>Somme - Peter Hart
Another nice Peter Hart WW1 book. The Somme was pretty brutal.
>All the Kaiser's Men The Life and Death of the German Army on the Western Front 1914-1918 (2005) - Ian Passingham
WW1 book. Accounts of the German army's perspective of WW1.
>Storm of Steel - Ernst Junger
German Soldier account of WW1. One of the rare people who enjoyed the war. He was at the somme so he saw some of the worst bits. He came out of the war and still thought war was a good idea. This kind of mentality is what Hitler built on.
>The making of the atomic bomb -Simon & Schuster (1988) - Richard Rhodes
Classic.
>Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam - Nick Turse
Highly opinionated book about every civilian murder he could find. Keep this in context and it's not so bad, but it's very anti-vietnam. It's like; vietname was a massive war where millions died, and he's picking the worst of it, and presenting it as representative.
>Exorcising Hitler: The Occupation and Denazification of Germany - Frederick Taylor
Describes the efforts taken to remove nazis (party members) from prominent positions in the post war germany.
>Doctors in the Great War - Ian Whitehead
Putting it here because it's informative but I don't actually recommend reading this unless you're really interested in 1915 domestic politics.
>Gentlemen Volunteers - Arlen Hansen
About WW1 ambulance drivers. It's charming, as it's a story about americans who volunteered and drove around Model Ts around shell craters and such.
>The "Russian" Civil Wars, 1916-1926: Ten Years That Shook the World - Jonathan Smele
Very dry. For a war with so much carnage it was a mostly political description. A good book to put you to sleep.
>Carnage and Culture - Victor David Hanson
Something about the supremacy of the european style of war. Very opinionated. Mostly true but it shouldn't be taken as gospel, as he ignores the steppe peoples so his little theory fits. Still, describes some pretty important battles.
Unless otherwise mentioned I recommend each book. If you have any questions, feel free.
This is a dump of HISTORY books in particular, I thought I mentioned that at the start.
I might do other genres later, but this post took me over an hour.
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I just finished Thomas Bernhard's Concrete.
I got it because I saw his name mentioned from time to time by writers and bloggers who were pessimists and / or anti-natalists.
They (in my view, accurately) said he was one of the few writers who was uncompromising, that would show the world to be as dark as it truly was.
The novel reminded me a lot of Dostoyevsky’s Notes from the Underground–very intense, honest, exhausting, and neurotic.
I don't know if I'm going to read any more of his work tbh. I like his worldview and his honesty, but his style doesn't really appeal to me.
I do think other wizards should check him out, though, as some may respond very well to Bernhard's writing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Bernhard
http://www.thomasbernhard.org/
I got it because I saw his name mentioned from time to time by writers and bloggers who were pessimists and / or anti-natalists.
They (in my view, accurately) said he was one of the few writers who was uncompromising, that would show the world to be as dark as it truly was.
The novel reminded me a lot of Dostoyevsky’s Notes from the Underground–very intense, honest, exhausting, and neurotic.
I don't know if I'm going to read any more of his work tbh. I like his worldview and his honesty, but his style doesn't really appeal to me.
I do think other wizards should check him out, though, as some may respond very well to Bernhard's writing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Bernhard
http://www.thomasbernhard.org/
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Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius
I enjoyed this long, intimate portrait of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. He is thought to have possibly been a virgin, and there are some who have made what I believe to be a solid case for his being autistic. His unique worldview and eccentricity held my attention for the whole book, and one need not be really in to philosophy to enjoy this look at such a singular man.
NY Times Review
Ludwig Wittgenstein was the greatest philosopher of the 20th century. Many books have been written about his philosophy. Ray Monk's "Ludwig Wittgenstein" is the first substantial biography of his whole life. It is not a book to which one would turn to learn about Wittgenstein's thought, but enough is said about the philosophical writings to make intelligible the story of the philosopher's life. And the story is well told; the narrative is vivid, clear, sympathetic and credible.
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/30/books/give-him-genius-or-give-him-death.html
I enjoyed this long, intimate portrait of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. He is thought to have possibly been a virgin, and there are some who have made what I believe to be a solid case for his being autistic. His unique worldview and eccentricity held my attention for the whole book, and one need not be really in to philosophy to enjoy this look at such a singular man.
NY Times Review
Ludwig Wittgenstein was the greatest philosopher of the 20th century. Many books have been written about his philosophy. Ray Monk's "Ludwig Wittgenstein" is the first substantial biography of his whole life. It is not a book to which one would turn to learn about Wittgenstein's thought, but enough is said about the philosophical writings to make intelligible the story of the philosopher's life. And the story is well told; the narrative is vivid, clear, sympathetic and credible.
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/30/books/give-him-genius-or-give-him-death.html
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>>29693 here again.
The past weeks I've been doing some small research into the horror genre. I've compiled a small introductory collection with a nice selection of several important authors and stories.
Here's the link to it:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=07815212352400432320
Pic related, it's the books.
If you feel more stuff could be added to it and more importantly, if you have the book in a decent format, feel free to reply.
Just a small note regarding these epubs. I couldn't always find the correct cover for the specific edition I did find so sometimes you'll have a cover by Penguin when the book is not actually from Penguin at all. Hope you enjoy it.
The past weeks I've been doing some small research into the horror genre. I've compiled a small introductory collection with a nice selection of several important authors and stories.
Here's the link to it:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=07815212352400432320
Pic related, it's the books.
If you feel more stuff could be added to it and more importantly, if you have the book in a decent format, feel free to reply.
Just a small note regarding these epubs. I couldn't always find the correct cover for the specific edition I did find so sometimes you'll have a cover by Penguin when the book is not actually from Penguin at all. Hope you enjoy it.
>>30126
>He is thought to have possibly been a virgin
Sadly, it seems Wittgenstein was gay and he used male prostitutes.
>He is thought to have possibly been a virgin
Sadly, it seems Wittgenstein was gay and he used male prostitutes.
>>30119
>Nationality Austrian
>One of the more controversial lines called Austria "a brutal and stupid nation … a mindless, cultureless sewer which spreads its penetrating stench all over Europe."
>Even in death Bernhard caused disturbance by his, as he supposedly called it, posthumous literary emigration, by disallowing all publication and stagings of his work within Austria's borders.
This guy was hilarious.
>Nationality Austrian
>One of the more controversial lines called Austria "a brutal and stupid nation … a mindless, cultureless sewer which spreads its penetrating stench all over Europe."
>Even in death Bernhard caused disturbance by his, as he supposedly called it, posthumous literary emigration, by disallowing all publication and stagings of his work within Austria's borders.
This guy was hilarious.
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The elder wizard Uncle Ted has released a new book, available on Amazon.
>Review: Anti-Tech Revolution: Why and How by Ted Kaczynski
http://wildism.org/hg/article/review-anti-tech-revolution-why-and-how-by-ted-kaczynski/
"There are many people today who see that modern society is heading toward disaster in one form or another, and who moreover recognize technology as the common thread linking the principal dangers that hang over us… The purpose of this book is to show people how to begin thinking in practical, grand-strategic terms about what must be done in order to get our society off the road to destruction that it is now on." —from the Preface.
>Review: Anti-Tech Revolution: Why and How by Ted Kaczynski
http://wildism.org/hg/article/review-anti-tech-revolution-why-and-how-by-ted-kaczynski/
"There are many people today who see that modern society is heading toward disaster in one form or another, and who moreover recognize technology as the common thread linking the principal dangers that hang over us… The purpose of this book is to show people how to begin thinking in practical, grand-strategic terms about what must be done in order to get our society off the road to destruction that it is now on." —from the Preface.
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Currently reading:
>The Secret Teachings of All Ages.
I think it's useful introduction for anyone who's interested in the esoteric.
>The Secret Teachings of All Ages.
I think it's useful introduction for anyone who's interested in the esoteric.
>>30437
Everytime I read Ted I feel like I'm reading the thoughts of a guy who is a billion miles ahead of me in his insights.
Everytime I read Ted I feel like I'm reading the thoughts of a guy who is a billion miles ahead of me in his insights.
Can anyone recommend anything relating to either economic history or the kind of dark humor similar to Slaughterhouse Five or the Catch-22?
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Finished some of lovecrafts books recently
The Alchemist
short enough that it doesnt get obnoxious, wasnt very lovecraftian since it was just a story about necromancy, but im sure this was more creepy to the 1930s people since we have grown desentilized to most horror, especially necromancers. anyways, good enough to read
At the Mountains of Madness
very very nice, the prose is good, the story is good, the interesting eldritch stuff abound, must read
Azathoth
howard complaining about the world getting mundane and lack of weird shit, super short so you must just read it
The Beast in the Cave
meh, good enough i suppose, though the reveal made by the author is…lets say immature
Beyond the Wall of Sleep
**wizards interested in dreams should definately read, other than that, i cant say anything extra.
The Book
guy buys a book from an old bookstore, weird shit ensues, rather short
The Call of Cthulhu
ahh, the one, isnt it…its good, read it. though the way the guy escaped from cthulhu was wait…really…huh..ok to me, i dunno
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
very, very good imo, you really gotta read this, lovecraft reader or not(sorry if you get disappointed)
The Cats of Ulthar
meh, the ending can be seen from a kilometer(cuz fuck merican system)i think howard just wrote this because he loved cats, dont think he thought this was horror
Celephais
weird shit, i dont really like weird shit, read if you like it, also the weird shit is visions of someone caused by drugs, do if you use drugs you might just read it
The Colour Out of Space
very very good imo, like the dexter ward, i suggest reading even if you dont particularly like lovecraft
Cool Air
**meh good enough i suppose, the ending can be seen from afar, so its not that shocking, go ahead if you wanna read all of lovecraft like me, if you dont just read the plot on wikipedia''
Dagon
not really horror but howard pondering about all the weird eldritch shiiet in the deep oceans
The Descendant
a weird-shit-loving-guy gets a hold of necronomicon, weird shit happens, guy goes rather insane, rather short and not really horror but morelike lovecraft writing about what he personally likes
The Alchemist
short enough that it doesnt get obnoxious, wasnt very lovecraftian since it was just a story about necromancy, but im sure this was more creepy to the 1930s people since we have grown desentilized to most horror, especially necromancers. anyways, good enough to read
At the Mountains of Madness
very very nice, the prose is good, the story is good, the interesting eldritch stuff abound, must read
Azathoth
howard complaining about the world getting mundane and lack of weird shit, super short so you must just read it
The Beast in the Cave
meh, good enough i suppose, though the reveal made by the author is…lets say immature
Beyond the Wall of Sleep
**wizards interested in dreams should definately read, other than that, i cant say anything extra.
The Book
guy buys a book from an old bookstore, weird shit ensues, rather short
The Call of Cthulhu
ahh, the one, isnt it…its good, read it. though the way the guy escaped from cthulhu was wait…really…huh..ok to me, i dunno
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
very, very good imo, you really gotta read this, lovecraft reader or not(sorry if you get disappointed)
The Cats of Ulthar
meh, the ending can be seen from a kilometer(cuz fuck merican system)i think howard just wrote this because he loved cats, dont think he thought this was horror
Celephais
weird shit, i dont really like weird shit, read if you like it, also the weird shit is visions of someone caused by drugs, do if you use drugs you might just read it
The Colour Out of Space
very very good imo, like the dexter ward, i suggest reading even if you dont particularly like lovecraft
Cool Air
**meh good enough i suppose, the ending can be seen from afar, so its not that shocking, go ahead if you wanna read all of lovecraft like me, if you dont just read the plot on wikipedia''
Dagon
not really horror but howard pondering about all the weird eldritch shiiet in the deep oceans
The Descendant
a weird-shit-loving-guy gets a hold of necronomicon, weird shit happens, guy goes rather insane, rather short and not really horror but morelike lovecraft writing about what he personally likes
>>30746
Azathoth
howard complaining about the world getting mundane and lack of weird shit, super short so you MIGHT, not must, just read it
Azathoth
howard complaining about the world getting mundane and lack of weird shit, super short so you MIGHT, not must, just read it
>>30746
Beyond the Wall of Sleep is just a underdeveloped version of The Whisperer in Darkness.
I like to think "Cthulhu" in the end of The Call of Cthulhu is just a spawn of Cthulhu that went scouting.
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is too long for what it is in my opinion.
The Mound and Out of the Aeons are among my favorites but are usually not collected in Lovecraft books because they were ghostwritten for other writers.
Beyond the Wall of Sleep is just a underdeveloped version of The Whisperer in Darkness.
I like to think "Cthulhu" in the end of The Call of Cthulhu is just a spawn of Cthulhu that went scouting.
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is too long for what it is in my opinion.
The Mound and Out of the Aeons are among my favorites but are usually not collected in Lovecraft books because they were ghostwritten for other writers.
>>30749
>The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is too long for what it is in my opinion.
yeah i was gonna say that but forgot
>The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is too long for what it is in my opinion.
yeah i was gonna say that but forgot
Currently I am reading Extinction by Thomas Bernhard. Last week I spent most of my time reading some of his shorter, autobiographical novels. They were overall very enjoyable, but I enjoy Extinction even more, although I am only about a third into it so far. All those ramblings about university professors, the education system, people who strive for degrees, people who do photography, doctors, Austria, and many things and people, are great to read. I really love it.
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Original Brothers Grim literary works is truly grim…
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Roadside Picnic is a short science fiction novel written by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky in 1971. The film Stalker, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, is loosely based on the novel, with a screenplay written by the Strugatsky brothers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadside_Picnic
>From the Afterword by Boris Strugatsky
We kept a journal of our discussions, and the very fist entry looks like this:
…A monkey and a tin can. Thirty years after the alien visit, the remains of the junk they left behind are at the center of quests and adventurers, investigations and misfortunes. The growth of superstition, a department attempting to assume power though owning the junk, an organization seeking to destroy it (knowledge fallen from the sky is useless and pernicious: any discovery could lead only to evil applications). Prospectors revered as wizards. A decline in the stature of science. Abandoned ecosystems (an almost dead battery), reanimated corpses from a wide variety of time periods…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadside_Picnic
>From the Afterword by Boris Strugatsky
We kept a journal of our discussions, and the very fist entry looks like this:
…A monkey and a tin can. Thirty years after the alien visit, the remains of the junk they left behind are at the center of quests and adventurers, investigations and misfortunes. The growth of superstition, a department attempting to assume power though owning the junk, an organization seeking to destroy it (knowledge fallen from the sky is useless and pernicious: any discovery could lead only to evil applications). Prospectors revered as wizards. A decline in the stature of science. Abandoned ecosystems (an almost dead battery), reanimated corpses from a wide variety of time periods…
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I'm really getting into buying books lately.
Next one i really want it's the Exegesis of P.K.Dick. I've been really fascinated by even before it was published and i still don't know what is it about.
Next one i really want it's the Exegesis of P.K.Dick. I've been really fascinated by even before it was published and i still don't know what is it about.
I don't know if you guys can help me, I remember reading some beautiful poems here, the title of the collection was something like "at the mountain top". Please help me remember.
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>>31297
Was it this, wiz? I've posted from this and other Chinese collections in the past.
>Mountain Home: The Wilderness Poetry of Ancient China
Was it this, wiz? I've posted from this and other Chinese collections in the past.
>Mountain Home: The Wilderness Poetry of Ancient China
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>>15206
I mainly enjoy fringe material though I do enjoy reading biographies once and a while.
I mainly enjoy fringe material though I do enjoy reading biographies once and a while.
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I'm a fan of technology critics like the elder wizard Ted K, not to mention other greats like Jacques Ellul and Henryk Skolimowski. This a great book in that vein, written by people with impressive credentials and accomplishments in the fields of science and engineering.
>Techno-Fix: Why Technology Won't Save Us Or the Environment
Techno-Fix questions a primary paradigm of our age: that advanced technology will extricate us from an ever increasing load of social, environmental, and economic ills. Techno-Fix shows why negative unintended consequences of science and technology are inherently unavoidable and unpredictable, why counter-technologies, techno-fixes, and efficiency improvements do not offer lasting solutions, and why modern technology, in the presence of continued economic growth, does not promote sustainability but instead hastens collapse.
The authors explore the reasons for the uncritical acceptance of new technologies; show that technological optimism is based on ignorance and that increasing consumerism and materialism, which have been facilitated by science and technology, have failed to increase happiness. The common belief that technological change is inevitable is questioned, the myth of the value-neutrality of technology is exposed and the ethics of the technological imperative: "what can be done should be done" is challenged. Techno-Fix asserts that science and technology, as currently practiced, cannot solve the many serious problems we face and that a paradigm shift is needed to reorient science and technology in a more socially responsible and environmentally sustainable direction.
The authors of Techno-Fix are inside observers of the technological scene. Educated and experienced in science and engineering, the authors deliver a highly readable, insightful and powerful critique of modern technology.
>Techno-Fix: Why Technology Won't Save Us Or the Environment
Techno-Fix questions a primary paradigm of our age: that advanced technology will extricate us from an ever increasing load of social, environmental, and economic ills. Techno-Fix shows why negative unintended consequences of science and technology are inherently unavoidable and unpredictable, why counter-technologies, techno-fixes, and efficiency improvements do not offer lasting solutions, and why modern technology, in the presence of continued economic growth, does not promote sustainability but instead hastens collapse.
The authors explore the reasons for the uncritical acceptance of new technologies; show that technological optimism is based on ignorance and that increasing consumerism and materialism, which have been facilitated by science and technology, have failed to increase happiness. The common belief that technological change is inevitable is questioned, the myth of the value-neutrality of technology is exposed and the ethics of the technological imperative: "what can be done should be done" is challenged. Techno-Fix asserts that science and technology, as currently practiced, cannot solve the many serious problems we face and that a paradigm shift is needed to reorient science and technology in a more socially responsible and environmentally sustainable direction.
The authors of Techno-Fix are inside observers of the technological scene. Educated and experienced in science and engineering, the authors deliver a highly readable, insightful and powerful critique of modern technology.
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These two excellent biographies of famous and enigmatic far-right figures were written by left-liberal types.
But these works are both, in the main, quite fair and even-handed. So I can recommend them to wizards of any political stripe, apolitical (like myself, mostly) wizards who just want to read a good story may also find a lot to like here.
>Dreamer of the Day: Francis Parker Yockey & The Postwar Fascist International
Great biography, but I must add that it is packed full of a lot of extraneous information about the far-right in general that would appeal to completists and people on the autism spectrum.
>Hate: George Lincoln Rockwell and the American Nazi Party
Never mind the title, it's actually a sober, thorough, and even at times sympathetic work. Very well written, the author is a gifted wordsmith.
But these works are both, in the main, quite fair and even-handed. So I can recommend them to wizards of any political stripe, apolitical (like myself, mostly) wizards who just want to read a good story may also find a lot to like here.
>Dreamer of the Day: Francis Parker Yockey & The Postwar Fascist International
Great biography, but I must add that it is packed full of a lot of extraneous information about the far-right in general that would appeal to completists and people on the autism spectrum.
>Hate: George Lincoln Rockwell and the American Nazi Party
Never mind the title, it's actually a sober, thorough, and even at times sympathetic work. Very well written, the author is a gifted wordsmith.
i feel spoiled by wikipedia, being able to click links and discover stuff. it is such an easygoing way to learn things.
you think would encyclopedias be good to try reading? i have a hard time finishing things, books movies, anime, everything. so i think dictionaries or encyclopedias would be good since they aren't even designed to be finished or read completely, just for reference usually.
i definitely won't be buying physical encyclopedias or dictionaries but maybe i can download some. i remember reading a very old dictionary a long time ago and discovering all kinds of old and obsolete words was fun.
you think would encyclopedias be good to try reading? i have a hard time finishing things, books movies, anime, everything. so i think dictionaries or encyclopedias would be good since they aren't even designed to be finished or read completely, just for reference usually.
i definitely won't be buying physical encyclopedias or dictionaries but maybe i can download some. i remember reading a very old dictionary a long time ago and discovering all kinds of old and obsolete words was fun.
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A wizard on /dep/ posted about this book, `Man's Search for Meaning'. It sounds good. Has anyone else here read it? I have a huge backlog of unread and half read stuff, so I'm unsure if I should start reading this.
>>31780
I never read it, but I see it get criticized from time to time, mostly in antinatalist circles. IIRC, critics point out that you cannot assign meaning to yourself, real meaning has to be discovered.
Because if you arbitrarily select meaning for yourself, what's to stop you from deselecting that meaning? Nothing, the critics say. So your meaning was never really serious, and your fake meaning will fall apart eventually.
I never read it, but I see it get criticized from time to time, mostly in antinatalist circles. IIRC, critics point out that you cannot assign meaning to yourself, real meaning has to be discovered.
Because if you arbitrarily select meaning for yourself, what's to stop you from deselecting that meaning? Nothing, the critics say. So your meaning was never really serious, and your fake meaning will fall apart eventually.
>>31783
I think Ligotti mentions Frankl in his The Conspiracy Against the Human Race.
I'm certainly not plugged into the AN scene. I browse the reddit board, the old AN blogs like Karl's, and this little board: http://antinatalism.freeforums.net/
This video is a succubus talking about Frankl:
I think Ligotti mentions Frankl in his The Conspiracy Against the Human Race.
I'm certainly not plugged into the AN scene. I browse the reddit board, the old AN blogs like Karl's, and this little board: http://antinatalism.freeforums.net/
This video is a succubus talking about Frankl:
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Recently read Noam Chomsky's 'Rogue states'.
Very anti-american. Portrays the US as some kind of military oligarchy where the only rule is do what we say or we fuck you up.
Turns out that's true, but still. I got the feeling I was being railroaded with all the bad shit the US was doing, and I instinctively reacted against what felt like manipulation.
This book feels manipulative, and I think while it's written to 'englightent' it does the job of shocking instead.
I mean hell, most of the stuff in it (US humans rights abuses are the main theme) isn't surprising to me, but I felt as though the writing was trying to make me feel shocked.
Still, very much so worth a read, so long as you don't fully absorb the message as if you haven't verified the claims you can't be sure that they aren't misrepresented.
I say this but really, the account is pretty damning even if you are intensely sceptical.
The US is the chad bullying the whole world.
Very anti-american. Portrays the US as some kind of military oligarchy where the only rule is do what we say or we fuck you up.
Turns out that's true, but still. I got the feeling I was being railroaded with all the bad shit the US was doing, and I instinctively reacted against what felt like manipulation.
This book feels manipulative, and I think while it's written to 'englightent' it does the job of shocking instead.
I mean hell, most of the stuff in it (US humans rights abuses are the main theme) isn't surprising to me, but I felt as though the writing was trying to make me feel shocked.
Still, very much so worth a read, so long as you don't fully absorb the message as if you haven't verified the claims you can't be sure that they aren't misrepresented.
I say this but really, the account is pretty damning even if you are intensely sceptical.
The US is the chad bullying the whole world.
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Great book. (For a more thorough overview of Yakuza history, see David E. Kaplan's Yakuza: Japan's Criminal Underworld.)
>Tokyo Underworld: The Fast Times and Hard Life of an American Gangster in Japan
In this unorthodox chronicle of the rise of Japan, Inc., Robert Whiting, author of You Gotta Have Wa, gives us a fresh perspective on the economic miracle and near disaster that is modern Japan.
Through the eyes of Nick Zappetti, a former GI, former black marketer, failed professional wrestler, bungling diamond thief who turned himself into "the Mafia boss of Tokyo and the king of Rappongi," we meet the players and the losers in the high-stakes game of postwar finance, politics, and criminal corruption in which he thrived. Here's the story of the Imperial Hotel diamond robbers, who attempted (and may have accomplished) the biggest heist in Tokyo's history. Here is Rikidozan, the professional wrestler who almost single-handedly revived Japanese pride, but whose own ethnicity had to be kept secret.
And here is the story of the intimate relationships shared by Japan's ruling party, its financial combines, its ruthless criminal gangs, the CIA, American Big Business, and perhaps at least one presidential relative. Here is the underside of postwar Japan, which is only now coming to light.
http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/05/02/reviews/990502.02kristot.html
>Tokyo Underworld: The Fast Times and Hard Life of an American Gangster in Japan
In this unorthodox chronicle of the rise of Japan, Inc., Robert Whiting, author of You Gotta Have Wa, gives us a fresh perspective on the economic miracle and near disaster that is modern Japan.
Through the eyes of Nick Zappetti, a former GI, former black marketer, failed professional wrestler, bungling diamond thief who turned himself into "the Mafia boss of Tokyo and the king of Rappongi," we meet the players and the losers in the high-stakes game of postwar finance, politics, and criminal corruption in which he thrived. Here's the story of the Imperial Hotel diamond robbers, who attempted (and may have accomplished) the biggest heist in Tokyo's history. Here is Rikidozan, the professional wrestler who almost single-handedly revived Japanese pride, but whose own ethnicity had to be kept secret.
And here is the story of the intimate relationships shared by Japan's ruling party, its financial combines, its ruthless criminal gangs, the CIA, American Big Business, and perhaps at least one presidential relative. Here is the underside of postwar Japan, which is only now coming to light.
http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/05/02/reviews/990502.02kristot.html
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>>32034
>For a more thorough overview of Yakuza history, see David E. Kaplan's Yakuza: Japan's Criminal Underworld
And if you want to zoom out from there, this is a great choice. Bertil Lintner has written many good books.
>Blood Brothers: The Criminal Underworld of Asia
From pirates singing Ricky Martin to mob hits carried out with samurai swords, Bertil Lintner offers a fascinating look at organized crime in the Asia Pacific. Both Western and Asian pundits assert that shady deals are an Asian way of life. Some argue that corruption and illicit business ventures–gambling, prostitution, drug trafficking, gun running, oil smuggling–are entrenched parts of the Asian value system. Yet many Asian leaders maintain that their cities are safer than Sydney, Amsterdam, New York, and Los Angeles.
Making use of expertise gained from twenty years of living in Asia, Lintner exposes the role crime plays in the countries of the Far East. In Blood Brothers, he takes you inside the criminal fraternities of Asia, examining these networks and their past histories in order to answer one question: How are civil societies all over the world to be protected from the worst excesses of increasingly globalized mobsters?
>For a more thorough overview of Yakuza history, see David E. Kaplan's Yakuza: Japan's Criminal Underworld
And if you want to zoom out from there, this is a great choice. Bertil Lintner has written many good books.
>Blood Brothers: The Criminal Underworld of Asia
From pirates singing Ricky Martin to mob hits carried out with samurai swords, Bertil Lintner offers a fascinating look at organized crime in the Asia Pacific. Both Western and Asian pundits assert that shady deals are an Asian way of life. Some argue that corruption and illicit business ventures–gambling, prostitution, drug trafficking, gun running, oil smuggling–are entrenched parts of the Asian value system. Yet many Asian leaders maintain that their cities are safer than Sydney, Amsterdam, New York, and Los Angeles.
Making use of expertise gained from twenty years of living in Asia, Lintner exposes the role crime plays in the countries of the Far East. In Blood Brothers, he takes you inside the criminal fraternities of Asia, examining these networks and their past histories in order to answer one question: How are civil societies all over the world to be protected from the worst excesses of increasingly globalized mobsters?
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>>31956
>Turns out that's true, but still.
Loll'ed. A wizards first cognitive dissonance. I think ghomsky has biases in other countries. His views of Khmer Rougue are absurd but he does not white wash Ameria one bit. And you being fed propaganda about how good america is feel annoyed by his treatment.
Its not very anti american. It is what it is.
>Turns out that's true, but still.
Loll'ed. A wizards first cognitive dissonance. I think ghomsky has biases in other countries. His views of Khmer Rougue are absurd but he does not white wash Ameria one bit. And you being fed propaganda about how good america is feel annoyed by his treatment.
Its not very anti american. It is what it is.
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was reading Slavery by Another Name and this made me chuckle
>Turner repeated to the jury his dialogue with the young black men in the buggy:
>" 'Hello nigger, how much is you cost?' One of them commenced crying and said, 'Boss, if you will take me I will work for you two years,' " Turner claimed. "I said, 'You are nothing but cigarette dudes and I would no have you.'"
>Turner repeated to the jury his dialogue with the young black men in the buggy:
>" 'Hello nigger, how much is you cost?' One of them commenced crying and said, 'Boss, if you will take me I will work for you two years,' " Turner claimed. "I said, 'You are nothing but cigarette dudes and I would no have you.'"
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>>30437
>>30440
Full book here:
https://archive.org/details/KaczynskiAntiTechRevolutionWhyAndHow
A comprehensive historical analysis explaining the futility of social control and the catastrophic influence of technological growth on human social and planetary ecological systems. Distilled from the critical sociohistorical analysis is the author's own theoretical framework for effecting meaningful and lasting change.
Anti-Tech Revolution: Why and How builds on and extends Theodore Kaczynski's previous works, Industrial Society and Its Future and Technological Slavery, and represents the culmination of a lifetime of purposeful research and analytic inquiry into the devastating implications of technological growth, as well as the urgent need and organized procedures required to halt it.
Anti-Tech Revolution argues that the global technological system is fundamentally incapable of reforming itself and will, unless challenged, inevitably lead to total disaster for humans and the biosphere. It offers a strategic program for organizing and motivating people to take effective steps toward meaningful change, based on a comprehensive analysis of social movements and a new theoretical framework for understanding the dynamics of social change.
Anti-Tech Revolution: Why and How is more than a theoretical analysis. It is a practical guide, offering methods to steer humanity away from the unprecedented existential crisis it faces as a result of runaway technological growth. A work of advocacy and a call to serious, specific, practical action, Anti-Tech Revolution implores its readers to address the problem of technology head-on with optimism and courage.
>>30440
Full book here:
https://archive.org/details/KaczynskiAntiTechRevolutionWhyAndHow
A comprehensive historical analysis explaining the futility of social control and the catastrophic influence of technological growth on human social and planetary ecological systems. Distilled from the critical sociohistorical analysis is the author's own theoretical framework for effecting meaningful and lasting change.
Anti-Tech Revolution: Why and How builds on and extends Theodore Kaczynski's previous works, Industrial Society and Its Future and Technological Slavery, and represents the culmination of a lifetime of purposeful research and analytic inquiry into the devastating implications of technological growth, as well as the urgent need and organized procedures required to halt it.
Anti-Tech Revolution argues that the global technological system is fundamentally incapable of reforming itself and will, unless challenged, inevitably lead to total disaster for humans and the biosphere. It offers a strategic program for organizing and motivating people to take effective steps toward meaningful change, based on a comprehensive analysis of social movements and a new theoretical framework for understanding the dynamics of social change.
Anti-Tech Revolution: Why and How is more than a theoretical analysis. It is a practical guide, offering methods to steer humanity away from the unprecedented existential crisis it faces as a result of runaway technological growth. A work of advocacy and a call to serious, specific, practical action, Anti-Tech Revolution implores its readers to address the problem of technology head-on with optimism and courage.
>>32946
If you really believe that technology is an evil, you're free to leave the internet and the rest of society to join one of those incestuous cults, like the Quakers or the Mormons or whatever.
If you really believe that technology is an evil, you're free to leave the internet and the rest of society to join one of those incestuous cults, like the Quakers or the Mormons or whatever.
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>>32947
>The "if you don't like it you can leave" meme
It's not that simple. Civilization is everywhere these days, and technology has permeated every aspect of life. Leaving it behind, either by taking the Kaczynski route and building a cabin in the woods, or joining some religious organization, is becoming increasingly more costly, and illegal in some places.
Civilization's control over our lives is increasing, just as Kaczynski predicted. More surveillance, more medication, longer time spent in the educational industry, longer work hours, more precarious jobs requiring a "yes-man" attitude if you want to remain employed, etc.
Also, civilization is wiping out segments of the biosphere that could have been used to support a traditional lifestyle like hunting and gathering. Non-domesticated animal biomass (i.e. wild animals) has been decimated over the last 100 years. Good luck hunting when the only animal left in the wild is no larger than a squirrel, or fishing when the oceans are barren and the rivers polluted or dammed.
We're getting more and more locked into the system, with fewer avenues of escape unless we're already rich, and the only ways to become rich are to be lucky or show enough obedience to the system that it rewards us in some way.
>The "if you don't like it you can leave" meme
It's not that simple. Civilization is everywhere these days, and technology has permeated every aspect of life. Leaving it behind, either by taking the Kaczynski route and building a cabin in the woods, or joining some religious organization, is becoming increasingly more costly, and illegal in some places.
Civilization's control over our lives is increasing, just as Kaczynski predicted. More surveillance, more medication, longer time spent in the educational industry, longer work hours, more precarious jobs requiring a "yes-man" attitude if you want to remain employed, etc.
Also, civilization is wiping out segments of the biosphere that could have been used to support a traditional lifestyle like hunting and gathering. Non-domesticated animal biomass (i.e. wild animals) has been decimated over the last 100 years. Good luck hunting when the only animal left in the wild is no larger than a squirrel, or fishing when the oceans are barren and the rivers polluted or dammed.
We're getting more and more locked into the system, with fewer avenues of escape unless we're already rich, and the only ways to become rich are to be lucky or show enough obedience to the system that it rewards us in some way.
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I know this book is well-liked by many wizards, but I just couldn't get into it.
I was sympathetic to the message, but the story failed to interest me. I had the same problem with other wizardly works like The Tartar Steppe and Pio Baroja's The Tree of Knowledge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Longer_Human
I was sympathetic to the message, but the story failed to interest me. I had the same problem with other wizardly works like The Tartar Steppe and Pio Baroja's The Tree of Knowledge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Longer_Human
>>32947
This sort of superficial and hostile 4chad-style response about a book you clearly have not read is not appropriate for a wizchan /hob/ thread.
This sort of superficial and hostile 4chad-style response about a book you clearly have not read is not appropriate for a wizchan /hob/ thread.
>>32959
episodes 1-4 of Aoi Bungaku, an anime series, are directly adapted from dazai's no longer human. it might interest you
episodes 1-4 of Aoi Bungaku, an anime series, are directly adapted from dazai's no longer human. it might interest you
>>32952
I would be tempted to think that these issues aren't rising from technology but from capitalism, liberalism and and abusive consumerism.
Technology can be used to make the greatest things (sharing information across the world, having light in the night, giving a new leg to someone) as well as it is a curse when we don't try to use it wisely. And capitalism is all about producting anything as much as we can to get money without thinking about the consequences in the future.
I would be tempted to think that these issues aren't rising from technology but from capitalism, liberalism and and abusive consumerism.
Technology can be used to make the greatest things (sharing information across the world, having light in the night, giving a new leg to someone) as well as it is a curse when we don't try to use it wisely. And capitalism is all about producting anything as much as we can to get money without thinking about the consequences in the future.
>>33016
What's sad is that if it weren't for the rampant rise of uber-consumerist culture we could grow actual legs for people from bone and flesh. When people apply for grants to try and do such a thing they are asked "how would this make money?", there is just no consumer market for growing people new legs or eyes or whatever.
What's sad is that if it weren't for the rampant rise of uber-consumerist culture we could grow actual legs for people from bone and flesh. When people apply for grants to try and do such a thing they are asked "how would this make money?", there is just no consumer market for growing people new legs or eyes or whatever.
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I was looking for a good post-apocalyptic novel. This one did not disappoint. I read On the Beach in just two sittings. Very engrossing and moving.
IIRC, EM Cioran said something about history books being of great therapeutic value to him, since they gave him some solace and perspective on humans and their fundamentally flawed and unchanging nature. I would say this novel was quite therapeutic for me in a similar sense.
There are also two movie adaptations and a BBC radio broadcast of this work that I have yet to watch.
>On the Beach is a 1957 post-apocalyptic novel written by British-Australian author Nevil Shute after he emigrated to Australia. The novel details the experiences of a mixed group of people in Melbourne as they await the arrival of deadly radiation spreading towards them from the Northern Hemisphere following a nuclear war a year previously. As the radiation approaches, each person deals with impending death differently.[
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Beach_(novel)
IIRC, EM Cioran said something about history books being of great therapeutic value to him, since they gave him some solace and perspective on humans and their fundamentally flawed and unchanging nature. I would say this novel was quite therapeutic for me in a similar sense.
There are also two movie adaptations and a BBC radio broadcast of this work that I have yet to watch.
>On the Beach is a 1957 post-apocalyptic novel written by British-Australian author Nevil Shute after he emigrated to Australia. The novel details the experiences of a mixed group of people in Melbourne as they await the arrival of deadly radiation spreading towards them from the Northern Hemisphere following a nuclear war a year previously. As the radiation approaches, each person deals with impending death differently.[
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Beach_(novel)
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Anyone read this or something like it?
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Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain
File: 1486514254975-0.pdf (1.72 MB, head of vitus bering .pdf)
File: 1486514254975-1.pdf (8.08 MB, the sixth sense .pdf)
Head of vitus bering, and The sixth sense. very unique and strange! bayer made no attempt to give a shit when he wrote. i like his writings a lot and use them as a tool before sleep to spawn interesting dreams
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After wasting all of my teens being a nigger and not reading anything I'm getting back into it now.
I used to read kids fantasy books as a kid but then I got a computer and then depression and stopped.
Right now I'm reading Frank Herbert's Dune and "An Introduction to Metaphysics" by Henri Bergson.
pic related is what i got for my birthday, also got a bunch of philosophy books
I used to read kids fantasy books as a kid but then I got a computer and then depression and stopped.
Right now I'm reading Frank Herbert's Dune and "An Introduction to Metaphysics" by Henri Bergson.
pic related is what i got for my birthday, also got a bunch of philosophy books
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>>34194
>the red book
I've been wanting to read it for a while since i got interested in Jung, it should be pretty dank. I've only read some book talking generally about his ideas so far
It's the reader's edition ofc, the real thing costs about a gorillion shekels.
>the red book
I've been wanting to read it for a while since i got interested in Jung, it should be pretty dank. I've only read some book talking generally about his ideas so far
It's the reader's edition ofc, the real thing costs about a gorillion shekels.
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>>30746
There's a story of his that i really liked but i forgot the title. I think it was about a sculptor who was sculpting a succubus out of clay which came alive and fucked him in what he thought were dreams. It was written as letters that the sculptor was sending to his friend. Maybe i'm mixing something up, i've read most his stories when i was a kid. Anyone?
There's a story of his that i really liked but i forgot the title. I think it was about a sculptor who was sculpting a succubus out of clay which came alive and fucked him in what he thought were dreams. It was written as letters that the sculptor was sending to his friend. Maybe i'm mixing something up, i've read most his stories when i was a kid. Anyone?
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>>34260
Uhm, i remember 2greek brothers making a statue for the king…but i guess not that one?
Uhm, i remember 2greek brothers making a statue for the king…but i guess not that one?
>>34270
No, i haven't read one like that.
I don't think i made it up because i remember reading it but i can't find anything on google.
No, i haven't read one like that.
I don't think i made it up because i remember reading it but i can't find anything on google.
>>34260
>I think it was about a sculptor who was sculpting a succubus out of clay which came alive and fucked him in what he thought were dreams.
sounds like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galatea_(mythology) maybe searching galatea and the author can get you more info
>I think it was about a sculptor who was sculpting a succubus out of clay which came alive and fucked him in what he thought were dreams.
sounds like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galatea_(mythology) maybe searching galatea and the author can get you more info
>>34282
Found it, idk how i didn't find it before because i know for sure i searched for "innsmouth clay" multiple times whenever i remembered it.
>https://www.scribd.com/document/205285137/Innsmouth-Clay-by-HPL-AD
It's one of them collaborations. For some reason it really got me and wedged in my memory when i was 10/11 years old. Not that the other well known stories written by Lovecraft himself didn't but this one i couldn't find, idk why. I'll have to read it later.
>>34284
That's pretty neat, i haven't heard that myth before.
Found it, idk how i didn't find it before because i know for sure i searched for "innsmouth clay" multiple times whenever i remembered it.
>https://www.scribd.com/document/205285137/Innsmouth-Clay-by-HPL-AD
It's one of them collaborations. For some reason it really got me and wedged in my memory when i was 10/11 years old. Not that the other well known stories written by Lovecraft himself didn't but this one i couldn't find, idk why. I'll have to read it later.
>>34284
That's pretty neat, i haven't heard that myth before.
Have any wizards ever read Herodotus or Thucydides? Which did you enjoy more? I'm currently reading Thucydides (book 6) and have found so far that I'm a bigger fan of Herodotus. Herodotus has more charm in my mind, plus he intersperses the main narrative of the Persians with interesting tales. I thought Herodotus' Histories had some more memorable moments as well, such as Thermopylae of course and Croesus' attempted invasion of Persia.
>>34379
I really liked Herodotus but I never read Thucydides, or any of the other historians of antiquity for that matter.
Herodotus seemed to have an unusual gift for storytelling. This might make him less than ideal for relating events as they happened, though. The story about Xerxes having the Hellespont itself be whipped and branded seemed like pure fiction.
I really liked Herodotus but I never read Thucydides, or any of the other historians of antiquity for that matter.
Herodotus seemed to have an unusual gift for storytelling. This might make him less than ideal for relating events as they happened, though. The story about Xerxes having the Hellespont itself be whipped and branded seemed like pure fiction.
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>>34381
Yeah I take most of what I read in Herodotus with a grain of salt (Such as the giant ants and the Arimaspi) except for the later books concerning the invasions of Greece. Thucydides is more like an actual historian, it's a very good work but it is much drier than Herodotus, albeit still interesting.
Yeah I take most of what I read in Herodotus with a grain of salt (Such as the giant ants and the Arimaspi) except for the later books concerning the invasions of Greece. Thucydides is more like an actual historian, it's a very good work but it is much drier than Herodotus, albeit still interesting.
>>34379
>>34382
One thing to remember about Herodotus is that the name 'Histories' is the worst translation ever. In Greek the name is Ἱστορίαι which means 'Inquiries' which is more fitting because the book is Herodotus traveling around and writing down people's stories about how things happened. Of course the stories are overblown as they are the tales of people who probably weren't there, or if they were, who wish to make themselves seem greater. He would listen to stories and then pick the ones he thought sounded best. This is how one should approach Herodotus. The continuing tradition of translating the title as Histories is cancer and gives readers the wrong idea of what Herodotus was writing, because it wasn't history as we understand it, such a concept didn't exist at that point. So take everything you read in Herodotus that isn't a general gist of something with a grain of salt. So when he says X thousand Persian soldiers, think that a Persian army was likely in that area, and not necessarily a big one either. It doesn't that there were actually that many men there, it's simply the best story that Herodotus came across.
>>34382
One thing to remember about Herodotus is that the name 'Histories' is the worst translation ever. In Greek the name is Ἱστορίαι which means 'Inquiries' which is more fitting because the book is Herodotus traveling around and writing down people's stories about how things happened. Of course the stories are overblown as they are the tales of people who probably weren't there, or if they were, who wish to make themselves seem greater. He would listen to stories and then pick the ones he thought sounded best. This is how one should approach Herodotus. The continuing tradition of translating the title as Histories is cancer and gives readers the wrong idea of what Herodotus was writing, because it wasn't history as we understand it, such a concept didn't exist at that point. So take everything you read in Herodotus that isn't a general gist of something with a grain of salt. So when he says X thousand Persian soldiers, think that a Persian army was likely in that area, and not necessarily a big one either. It doesn't that there were actually that many men there, it's simply the best story that Herodotus came across.
>>34385
Good post. Herodotus was obviously horribly off on his numbers, especially with Xerxes' army. He said it had what, 2 million or so troops and that they drank rivers dry? That would be impossible to feed. Sadly alot of his stuff has been taken literally and we not have cancer like the movie 300. Inquiries should really be the name. Sadly it's unlikely that any future translations will use this name due to how ingrained the popular name is. Probably has something to do with the similiarity of the names or semantic change between languages
Good post. Herodotus was obviously horribly off on his numbers, especially with Xerxes' army. He said it had what, 2 million or so troops and that they drank rivers dry? That would be impossible to feed. Sadly alot of his stuff has been taken literally and we not have cancer like the movie 300. Inquiries should really be the name. Sadly it's unlikely that any future translations will use this name due to how ingrained the popular name is. Probably has something to do with the similiarity of the names or semantic change between languages
>>34386
Yeah, my favourite of his is how we have figures for the Persian fleet a couple of years prior to the invasion but in Herodotus that number has increased by a factor of about 10 despite the Persian shipyards in the Mediterranean/Aegean not being able to double their number in any time shorter than 5 years based on modern analysis of what we know of shipbuilding at the time. And that's assuming that you have enough fishermen to press gang into fleet service because good luck getting some dude from the middle of the desert to work the deck of a ship with any success.
I think the best ancient historian is Diodorus Siculus. He's not perfect, but he's pretty damn reliable and not prone to flights of fancy, even acknowledging that the cunning of the Gauls wasn't a savage cunning but real smarts which was not something the Romans were fond of doing at this point. It's a real shame that most of his stuff is lost though.
Yeah, my favourite of his is how we have figures for the Persian fleet a couple of years prior to the invasion but in Herodotus that number has increased by a factor of about 10 despite the Persian shipyards in the Mediterranean/Aegean not being able to double their number in any time shorter than 5 years based on modern analysis of what we know of shipbuilding at the time. And that's assuming that you have enough fishermen to press gang into fleet service because good luck getting some dude from the middle of the desert to work the deck of a ship with any success.
I think the best ancient historian is Diodorus Siculus. He's not perfect, but he's pretty damn reliable and not prone to flights of fancy, even acknowledging that the cunning of the Gauls wasn't a savage cunning but real smarts which was not something the Romans were fond of doing at this point. It's a real shame that most of his stuff is lost though.
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>>34287
I'd also like to put this Jimi Hendrix song beside that story, also one of my favorites.
https://vimeo.com/78819718
I'd also like to put this Jimi Hendrix song beside that story, also one of my favorites.
https://vimeo.com/78819718
>>34387
I've actually never heard of Diodorus Siculus surprisingly. From just skimming the Wiki page on him, it seems like it may be an interesting work. I'll have to add it to my ever growing "to read" pileThanks, wiz.
I've actually never heard of Diodorus Siculus surprisingly. From just skimming the Wiki page on him, it seems like it may be an interesting work. I'll have to add it to my ever growing "to read" pileThanks, wiz.
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There are a lot of interesting profiles of Japanese men living on the fringes of society in this good but somewhat dry book. There is no moralizing or hand-wringing here, the able author just describes what he saw and heard during his extensive visits to the area.
I was a bit jealous seeing how relatively livable and low crime (and somewhat wizard-friendly) this Tokyo skid row seemed to be, when contrasted with, for instance, a skid row in the Americas or Europe.
>San'ya Blues: Laboring Life in Contemporary Tokyo
Over the years, Edward Fowler, an American academic, became a familiar presence in San'ya, a run-down neighborhood in northeastern Tokyo. The city's largest day-labor market, notorious for its population of casual laborers, drunks, gamblers, and vagrants, has been home for more than half a century to anywhere from five to fifteen thousand men who cluster in the mornings at a crossroads called Namidabashi (Bridge of Tears) in hopes of getting work. The day-labor market, along with gambling and prostitution, is run by Japan's organized crime syndicates, the yakuza.
Working as a day laborer himself, Fowler kept a diary of his experiences. He also talked with day laborers and local merchants, union leaders and bureaucrats, gangsters and missionaries. The resulting oral histories, juxtaposed with Fowler's narrative and diary entries, bring to life a community on the margins of contemporary Japan.
http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100738020
I was a bit jealous seeing how relatively livable and low crime (and somewhat wizard-friendly) this Tokyo skid row seemed to be, when contrasted with, for instance, a skid row in the Americas or Europe.
>San'ya Blues: Laboring Life in Contemporary Tokyo
Over the years, Edward Fowler, an American academic, became a familiar presence in San'ya, a run-down neighborhood in northeastern Tokyo. The city's largest day-labor market, notorious for its population of casual laborers, drunks, gamblers, and vagrants, has been home for more than half a century to anywhere from five to fifteen thousand men who cluster in the mornings at a crossroads called Namidabashi (Bridge of Tears) in hopes of getting work. The day-labor market, along with gambling and prostitution, is run by Japan's organized crime syndicates, the yakuza.
Working as a day laborer himself, Fowler kept a diary of his experiences. He also talked with day laborers and local merchants, union leaders and bureaucrats, gangsters and missionaries. The resulting oral histories, juxtaposed with Fowler's narrative and diary entries, bring to life a community on the margins of contemporary Japan.
http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100738020
>>34953
thanks for showing me this, i'll probably end up reading it now as this very specific area always interested me
thanks for showing me this, i'll probably end up reading it now as this very specific area always interested me
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I can't recommend Mishima's Temple of The Golden Pavillion enough. The protagonist has an aggressively wizardly mentality. Its good for unpacking some feels.
>>33576
Speaking of post-apocalyptic, is the cyberpunk genre worth a shit? I've heard of books like Necromancer and the likes, but they're low on my reading list. I've read synopses and can't tell if they're just fantasy shit or actual potentially prophetical insights into social consequences of technology.
Are they supposed to be the artistic fiction versions of Ted K meets Nostradamus? Or is it just a depressing hodge podge of "I put a quarter in the dinner machine, dinner came out" kind of boring bullshit like Houellebecq?
Speaking of post-apocalyptic, is the cyberpunk genre worth a shit? I've heard of books like Necromancer and the likes, but they're low on my reading list. I've read synopses and can't tell if they're just fantasy shit or actual potentially prophetical insights into social consequences of technology.
Are they supposed to be the artistic fiction versions of Ted K meets Nostradamus? Or is it just a depressing hodge podge of "I put a quarter in the dinner machine, dinner came out" kind of boring bullshit like Houellebecq?
>>35026
I generally don't like genre fiction because the prose can be really bad, but Neuromancer is an incredible work of art. I don't think I'd call it prophetic because it's not really a prediction so much as it's a commentary on technological and social trends that were already apparent in the 80s. It isn't like Houellebecq at all; it's basically a heist thriller with more emphasis on plot and mood rather than slice of life mundanities and politics. There are dystopian elements but they're hardly depressing because of their sheer novelty and excitement. The goal is more, "wow, this fictional technology and its effect on human behavior is fucking bizarre and cool" rather than "Wow, life for these people is so horrible and shitty."
I generally don't like genre fiction because the prose can be really bad, but Neuromancer is an incredible work of art. I don't think I'd call it prophetic because it's not really a prediction so much as it's a commentary on technological and social trends that were already apparent in the 80s. It isn't like Houellebecq at all; it's basically a heist thriller with more emphasis on plot and mood rather than slice of life mundanities and politics. There are dystopian elements but they're hardly depressing because of their sheer novelty and excitement. The goal is more, "wow, this fictional technology and its effect on human behavior is fucking bizarre and cool" rather than "Wow, life for these people is so horrible and shitty."
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Jack kevorkian art on the cover
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I approve this as an existentialism pro. You won't regret it, fellows.
maybe you'll regret every single second passing by after you read it
maybe you'll regret every single second passing by after you read it
>>35056
I watched a couple of times and don't get the appeal. It's two guys waiting for a third guy that never shows up. I felt the whole thing had nothing new or interesting to tell me. Maybe a lot of people have a positive view on the feeling of hope and found this an interesting take.
I watched a couple of times and don't get the appeal. It's two guys waiting for a third guy that never shows up. I felt the whole thing had nothing new or interesting to tell me. Maybe a lot of people have a positive view on the feeling of hope and found this an interesting take.
>>35057
for me it was related to waiting for god to save the world but all this time and he never came
for me it was related to waiting for god to save the world but all this time and he never came
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Seven Wizardly Works
http://pastebin.com/EhBmYMDF
http://pastebin.com/EhBmYMDF
>>35057
Maybe you should have known about the themes of the play before you watched it. This fellow >>35059 has kind of explained it. It's called the theatre of the absurd, so it's natural to feel that way because all of the things in the play are unconventional.
I'm going to write about some themes, I hope it'll be useful for you.
There are separate opinions about Godot. Godot symbolizes many things such as hope, death, god… It may be our hope for the future, but we do nothing but hoping. Our laziness in doing things is criticized. It may be death because we're all waiting for our death, yet we don't know till it happens("we'll be waiting till Godot comes" as Didi says). It may be God, (let's say) we do all things for him, and we don't know if it's real like Godot.
The play is existentialist. That's why Beckett wrote such an absurd play. The absurdity in actions shows us how silly lives we're living between birth and death. All the meaningless dances, hugging, yesyesnonos…
The last thing about the play is that the relationship between Pozzo and Lucky symbolizes capitalist upper-class beating middle-class, and the middle-class people don't rise against it like Lucky.
>>35111
Thanks for your good sources. I've saved them for tomorrow.
Maybe you should have known about the themes of the play before you watched it. This fellow >>35059 has kind of explained it. It's called the theatre of the absurd, so it's natural to feel that way because all of the things in the play are unconventional.
I'm going to write about some themes, I hope it'll be useful for you.
There are separate opinions about Godot. Godot symbolizes many things such as hope, death, god… It may be our hope for the future, but we do nothing but hoping. Our laziness in doing things is criticized. It may be death because we're all waiting for our death, yet we don't know till it happens("we'll be waiting till Godot comes" as Didi says). It may be God, (let's say) we do all things for him, and we don't know if it's real like Godot.
The play is existentialist. That's why Beckett wrote such an absurd play. The absurdity in actions shows us how silly lives we're living between birth and death. All the meaningless dances, hugging, yesyesnonos…
The last thing about the play is that the relationship between Pozzo and Lucky symbolizes capitalist upper-class beating middle-class, and the middle-class people don't rise against it like Lucky.
>>35111
Thanks for your good sources. I've saved them for tomorrow.
Recently (tried) to read 'The World's Most Dangerous Place' by James Fergusson.
Got about halfway through. I had to stop reading because it just made me so mad.
Mix islamic extreme violence + African violence and you get Somalia. It's a country that would have a higher GDP if no-one was there.
Got about halfway through. I had to stop reading because it just made me so mad.
Mix islamic extreme violence + African violence and you get Somalia. It's a country that would have a higher GDP if no-one was there.
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>>35148
>Mix islamic extreme violence + African violence and you get Somalia. It's a country that would have a higher GDP if no-one was there.
It's a country that would have a higher GDP if the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact were still around to purchase its minerals, livestock, and fish products. Islam wasn't suppressed under the Socialist government (much the opposite, actually), and clearly, it was still very much an African nation back then. They didn't magically turn white for those 20 years of relative decency, and then revert to blackness, when it was over. They lost their trade partners and protectors, and then a civil war erupted from the recession and weakened government.
They'd probably be better off as well, if us and the Ethiopians hadn't destroyed the ICU, who were finally starting to set up a decent police and government apparatus. The ICU was quite good at killing off the opportunistic warlords, and keeping the more extreme Islamists in line, just like the SRSP/XHKS had been, in the 70s and 80s. With the ICU gone, the warlords came back, and the hardline Islamists were the only ones who could stop them. But they didn't all turn white, when the ICU was repairing the nation, and policing the streets. They didn't revert to blackness, when the Ethiopians invaded. They lost their government and police force, and unsurprisingly, another generation of opportunists filled the vacuum.
>Mix islamic extreme violence + African violence and you get Somalia. It's a country that would have a higher GDP if no-one was there.
It's a country that would have a higher GDP if the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact were still around to purchase its minerals, livestock, and fish products. Islam wasn't suppressed under the Socialist government (much the opposite, actually), and clearly, it was still very much an African nation back then. They didn't magically turn white for those 20 years of relative decency, and then revert to blackness, when it was over. They lost their trade partners and protectors, and then a civil war erupted from the recession and weakened government.
They'd probably be better off as well, if us and the Ethiopians hadn't destroyed the ICU, who were finally starting to set up a decent police and government apparatus. The ICU was quite good at killing off the opportunistic warlords, and keeping the more extreme Islamists in line, just like the SRSP/XHKS had been, in the 70s and 80s. With the ICU gone, the warlords came back, and the hardline Islamists were the only ones who could stop them. But they didn't all turn white, when the ICU was repairing the nation, and policing the streets. They didn't revert to blackness, when the Ethiopians invaded. They lost their government and police force, and unsurprisingly, another generation of opportunists filled the vacuum.
>>35152
Well I didn't really say it's their fault for having their economic rug pulled from under them.
Economic opportunities are still dire, there's generally two main career paths in somalia:
1. Becoming a pirate
2. Joining Islamic radical groups
Anything else and you're basically getting fucked.
So people don't pick up hammers and spanners, they pick up guns.
Although nowadays there's a third career option:
3. Go to europe and they just give you stuff for free.
Well I didn't really say it's their fault for having their economic rug pulled from under them.
Economic opportunities are still dire, there's generally two main career paths in somalia:
1. Becoming a pirate
2. Joining Islamic radical groups
Anything else and you're basically getting fucked.
So people don't pick up hammers and spanners, they pick up guns.
Although nowadays there's a third career option:
3. Go to europe and they just give you stuff for free.
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>>35308
This is a good one to start with. That website is a great Lovecraft resource.
>The Dunwich Horror
http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/dh.aspx
This is a good one to start with. That website is a great Lovecraft resource.
>The Dunwich Horror
http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/dh.aspx
>>35308
I liked The Whisperer in Darkness and The Shadow Over Innsmouth most of what i've read.
I liked The Whisperer in Darkness and The Shadow Over Innsmouth most of what i've read.
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The Italian genius Giacomo Leopardi was one of Schopenhauer's favourite writers. There is a lot of great stuff here for pessimistic wizards, a real treasure trove.
Small Moral Works (Italian: Operette morali) is a collection of 24 writings (dialogues and fictional essays) by Italian poet and philosopher Giacomo Leopardi, written between 1824 and 1832.
https://archive.org/details/essaysanddialog00leopgoog
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giacomo_Leopardi
And Edgar Saltus spends a lot of time quoting and considering Leopardi in his Philosophy of Disenchantment, which you can find in PDF here: >>35111
Also, Joshua Foa Dienstag wrote a book trying to rehabilitate pessimistic thought for his fellow normalcattle intellectuals. Pessimism: Philosophy, Ethic, Spirit. He spends a fair amount of time on Leopardi, among others. I liked the book a lot, even if I wasn't sold on his main arguments.
Lastly, John Gray has written several very accessible pessimistic works. Leopardi comes up here and there in his writing, IIRC. The best being Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals.
Small Moral Works (Italian: Operette morali) is a collection of 24 writings (dialogues and fictional essays) by Italian poet and philosopher Giacomo Leopardi, written between 1824 and 1832.
https://archive.org/details/essaysanddialog00leopgoog
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giacomo_Leopardi
And Edgar Saltus spends a lot of time quoting and considering Leopardi in his Philosophy of Disenchantment, which you can find in PDF here: >>35111
Also, Joshua Foa Dienstag wrote a book trying to rehabilitate pessimistic thought for his fellow normalcattle intellectuals. Pessimism: Philosophy, Ethic, Spirit. He spends a fair amount of time on Leopardi, among others. I liked the book a lot, even if I wasn't sold on his main arguments.
Lastly, John Gray has written several very accessible pessimistic works. Leopardi comes up here and there in his writing, IIRC. The best being Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals.
>>35308
horror of yig, it was admirable for its slow mythological build of the yig and how this isn't an omnipresent deity all the mighty yog sathoth, the azathoth or even the shun niggururth but this was instead something much more it's easier access to lone travelers in isolated parts of the rural south. The eventual degradation of the protagonists psyche is a decent slow burn with an eventual great and spectacular conclusion that really makes the readers mind wonder about this mythical folk legend the yig.
The museum of horrors, it's great in its juxtaposition of the physical and technological improvements of man andthe somewhat now perceived archaic forms of spiritualism, it's also nice for giving descriptions for some of the most well known elder and outer gods, loved the description of the followers of Confucian ideals some how managing to commune with the gate keeper of the universe the yog sathoth.
Rats in the walls, interesting seeing how love craft can write about about a methodical unnerving horror occur to a man who along with the reader comes across maybe perplexing notions and facts about these so perceived opulents ended up as disgusted and detestable individual's. Also there's a cat called nigger man and that anon-kun adds a hilarious edge.
horror of yig, it was admirable for its slow mythological build of the yig and how this isn't an omnipresent deity all the mighty yog sathoth, the azathoth or even the shun niggururth but this was instead something much more it's easier access to lone travelers in isolated parts of the rural south. The eventual degradation of the protagonists psyche is a decent slow burn with an eventual great and spectacular conclusion that really makes the readers mind wonder about this mythical folk legend the yig.
The museum of horrors, it's great in its juxtaposition of the physical and technological improvements of man andthe somewhat now perceived archaic forms of spiritualism, it's also nice for giving descriptions for some of the most well known elder and outer gods, loved the description of the followers of Confucian ideals some how managing to commune with the gate keeper of the universe the yog sathoth.
Rats in the walls, interesting seeing how love craft can write about about a methodical unnerving horror occur to a man who along with the reader comes across maybe perplexing notions and facts about these so perceived opulents ended up as disgusted and detestable individual's. Also there's a cat called nigger man and that anon-kun adds a hilarious edge.
Any historical fiction / fantasy novels that you guys recommend? I'm starting with both Chronicles of the Black Company as well as The Last Kingdom.
>>31296
How do the LOGH novels compare to the anime? I ran out of steam watching the anime and ended up dropping it 2/3 of the way through. Is it worth going to the novels instead of rewatching the whole show?
How do the LOGH novels compare to the anime? I ran out of steam watching the anime and ended up dropping it 2/3 of the way through. Is it worth going to the novels instead of rewatching the whole show?
I have just started Crime and Punishment. One of those classics I have never got around to reading. First 2 chapters have me hooked already
Reading Dante's Divine Comedy, almost done Inferno and moving on to Purgatorio. It pains me that many of the sins that are obvious common sense, like whorishness and sodomy, would today be considered radical extremism to even speak against them. Also, if anyone is curious, Dante puts most wizards at the bottom of a muddy lake for all eternity; and those who killed themselves turn into spindly trees.
>>35836
Yeah, but who cares what Dante does? Is he Jesus or one of his 12 disciples? I don't think so.
Yeah, but who cares what Dante does? Is he Jesus or one of his 12 disciples? I don't think so.
>>35837
Dante influenced Christianity, and by extent America, so much that it's because of his writings that the most puritan and prudish damn others to hell which doesn't even exist in the teachings of Jewsus. Jewsus said the good samaritan would be in the kingdom of god, but according to Dante.he would be in the first circle of hell. It's important to know how much of modern Christianity is the peacefulness of Jewsus, and how much is the condemning to damnation of Dante. Also some passages, like usurers who must with their bare hands, fan away flame and push way burning soil, are fun to read. These days everyone is so tolerant and accepting of degeneracy so it's a nice change of pace to read something that condemns it, even if at times it may condemn myself.
Dante influenced Christianity, and by extent America, so much that it's because of his writings that the most puritan and prudish damn others to hell which doesn't even exist in the teachings of Jewsus. Jewsus said the good samaritan would be in the kingdom of god, but according to Dante.he would be in the first circle of hell. It's important to know how much of modern Christianity is the peacefulness of Jewsus, and how much is the condemning to damnation of Dante. Also some passages, like usurers who must with their bare hands, fan away flame and push way burning soil, are fun to read. These days everyone is so tolerant and accepting of degeneracy so it's a nice change of pace to read something that condemns it, even if at times it may condemn myself.
>>35838
By hell not existing in the bible I mean the modern hell in the mind of modern america where people are sent straight away after they die, instead of the scripture that says people stay dead until judgement day, and then onky those who side with satan are sent to a lake of fire and brimstone. The Hell where Satan rules and demons torture humans does not exist, rather after judgement day, Satan and his followers are sent to boil in a lake and rule nothing, and torture no one, they themselves are the ones tortured. Also satan and his demons and not currently in hell, as Dante claims, but on Earth, for if they were in trapped in hell, they would not be able to converse with Jesus and other holy men, or possess people, or bring any of the plagues on our world.
By hell not existing in the bible I mean the modern hell in the mind of modern america where people are sent straight away after they die, instead of the scripture that says people stay dead until judgement day, and then onky those who side with satan are sent to a lake of fire and brimstone. The Hell where Satan rules and demons torture humans does not exist, rather after judgement day, Satan and his followers are sent to boil in a lake and rule nothing, and torture no one, they themselves are the ones tortured. Also satan and his demons and not currently in hell, as Dante claims, but on Earth, for if they were in trapped in hell, they would not be able to converse with Jesus and other holy men, or possess people, or bring any of the plagues on our world.
>>35609
>Giacomo Leopardi
This guy is a pretty good read, even thought I don't completely agree with all of his pessimistic views, but his writing skills are unquestionable.
>>35838
I'd rather not read spooky stuff, like Donte's fuck you, to be honest. But I don't deny that he's a proficient writer judging from the few uhh.. What to call them in English? Passages? I guess. That I've laid my eyes upon.
>Giacomo Leopardi
This guy is a pretty good read, even thought I don't completely agree with all of his pessimistic views, but his writing skills are unquestionable.
>>35838
I'd rather not read spooky stuff, like Donte's fuck you, to be honest. But I don't deny that he's a proficient writer judging from the few uhh.. What to call them in English? Passages? I guess. That I've laid my eyes upon.
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Reading this on my Kindle. So far the story's interesting. I enjoyed a bit of Ready Player One and figured, why not?
>>35860
Is there anything to Ready Player One? I thought it was just a bunch of 80's pop culture references.
Is there anything to Ready Player One? I thought it was just a bunch of 80's pop culture references.
>>35862
There is some story to it, but there is some romance involved where the mc crushes on some succubus. Meanwhile he's supposed to be trying to winsome scavenger hunt for some dead guy's fortune before some evil organization does.
There is some story to it, but there is some romance involved where the mc crushes on some succubus. Meanwhile he's supposed to be trying to winsome scavenger hunt for some dead guy's fortune before some evil organization does.
>>35862
One of the worst written books I've ever encountered. I can understand why it would appeal to autists and normies alike, although for different reasons.
Just another example of absolute garbage making obscene amounts of money due to hype and the shit taste of society.
One of the worst written books I've ever encountered. I can understand why it would appeal to autists and normies alike, although for different reasons.
Just another example of absolute garbage making obscene amounts of money due to hype and the shit taste of society.
>>15208
Tomorrow when the war began
A series focused arou
nd a group of teenagers that try to survive a progressive war from the outskirts of town. They are isolated and have a sort of lord of the flies tribe going on.
Tomorrow when the war began
A series focused arou
nd a group of teenagers that try to survive a progressive war from the outskirts of town. They are isolated and have a sort of lord of the flies tribe going on.
Check out my book, /hob/:
https://www.docdroid.net/bZzA2Pf/aaron-book-1-chorrier-rise.pdf.html
It's fantasy.
https://www.docdroid.net/bZzA2Pf/aaron-book-1-chorrier-rise.pdf.html
It's fantasy.
>>35919
Forgot the premise:
This is the tale of an errand boy in the continent of Japheth, and his gradual change from a passive peasant, to a capable ruler…or that was the plan. Follow his adventures as he faces ruffians, dragons, the wrath of the Clergy, the intrigue of the nobles and fends off invading armies as he tries to win the heart of a succubus he never had the courage to speak to.
Forgot the premise:
This is the tale of an errand boy in the continent of Japheth, and his gradual change from a passive peasant, to a capable ruler…or that was the plan. Follow his adventures as he faces ruffians, dragons, the wrath of the Clergy, the intrigue of the nobles and fends off invading armies as he tries to win the heart of a succubus he never had the courage to speak to.
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How do I get into reading? I have no idea where to begin. I had a look at the /lit/ wiki but it was pretentious as hell. Recommending that you begin reading everything Greek and Roman before going on to reading a ton of difficult philosophical and political books and then on to long classical novels.
If /lit/ is a site for old, artsy, avant-garde films, where is my IMDB Top 100 for books?
If /lit/ is a site for old, artsy, avant-garde films, where is my IMDB Top 100 for books?
>>36145
Sherlock Holmes stories, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, anything you'd like by Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, or Jules Verne are some good places to start.
Goodreads should have some top 100 lists of books which appeal to a wide audience.
Sherlock Holmes stories, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, anything you'd like by Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, or Jules Verne are some good places to start.
Goodreads should have some top 100 lists of books which appeal to a wide audience.
>>36145
Depends what you want to read. Take a look at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_writing_genres pick a genre you like, peruse through some books of said genre, download it and start to read. There isn't much to it, you can begin anywhere really.
Depends what you want to read. Take a look at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_writing_genres pick a genre you like, peruse through some books of said genre, download it and start to read. There isn't much to it, you can begin anywhere really.
>>36145
Try and find something you're interested in rather than what other people call 'good'.
Try and find something you're interested in rather than what other people call 'good'.
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>>36147
>>36157
Not him, but I find this approach is totally inadequate to sustain one's interest in reading. There are ~140,000,000 books out there, and just randomly picking shit out of broadly defined categories is no way to actually find good stuff or even just stuff one might like. I mean with books, especially with modern innovations that let just about anybody publish a book, the vast vast vast majority of stuff out there is crap that ain't worth the paper it's printed on. Just crossing one's fingers and randomly picking things isn't a good way to get anywhere.
It angers and saddens me that there is to my knowledge no currently existent actually good site for categorizing and ranking books with any real degree of precision.
>>36157
Not him, but I find this approach is totally inadequate to sustain one's interest in reading. There are ~140,000,000 books out there, and just randomly picking shit out of broadly defined categories is no way to actually find good stuff or even just stuff one might like. I mean with books, especially with modern innovations that let just about anybody publish a book, the vast vast vast majority of stuff out there is crap that ain't worth the paper it's printed on. Just crossing one's fingers and randomly picking things isn't a good way to get anywhere.
It angers and saddens me that there is to my knowledge no currently existent actually good site for categorizing and ranking books with any real degree of precision.
>>36159
I completely agree. Even the above advice is just far too broad and all book sites have trash like Harry Potter and the latest romance novel for 40 year old mothers in their top recommended. It's not like anime where you can try three 20 minute episodes of the newest popular show to see if you like it, you have to put in a lot more investment before you can find if it's good. I completed one book months ago and loved it. I have slogged through eight books since then and found them all incredibly uninteresting.
I completely agree. Even the above advice is just far too broad and all book sites have trash like Harry Potter and the latest romance novel for 40 year old mothers in their top recommended. It's not like anime where you can try three 20 minute episodes of the newest popular show to see if you like it, you have to put in a lot more investment before you can find if it's good. I completed one book months ago and loved it. I have slogged through eight books since then and found them all incredibly uninteresting.
>>36162
Here's a tip: If something starts off bad it more than likely will continue to be bad. You might say that "But some things start out slow!" and that's true. However, you can tell when something just has a slow start and when something's just poorly written schlock. Just pay attention to how characters are established and how the plot is being set-up.
Here's a tip: If something starts off bad it more than likely will continue to be bad. You might say that "But some things start out slow!" and that's true. However, you can tell when something just has a slow start and when something's just poorly written schlock. Just pay attention to how characters are established and how the plot is being set-up.
>>36163
> Just pay attention to how characters are established and how the plot is being set-up
Explain this more to a lower class uneducated idiot.
> Just pay attention to how characters are established and how the plot is being set-up
Explain this more to a lower class uneducated idiot.
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I think many other wizards would enjoy this book as much as I did.
>The Dark Side: Thoughts on the Futility of Life from the Ancient Greeks to the Present
The Dark Side offers more than a thousand quotes, from nearly four hundred famous writers, from antiquity to the present, who addressed both mankind’s contingent nature and the view that human existence is, at best, amusingly trivial or, more likely, horrifyingly meaningless. The quotes are arranged chronologically, with extensive commentary and numerous biographical sketches of the most intensely dark thinkers of all time.
A brief history of nihilism is included… and there is a disturbing interview with an avowed nihilist, a prominent academician who insisted on anonymity. In short, the book is a profound concentration of negativity.
>The Dark Side: Thoughts on the Futility of Life from the Ancient Greeks to the Present
The Dark Side offers more than a thousand quotes, from nearly four hundred famous writers, from antiquity to the present, who addressed both mankind’s contingent nature and the view that human existence is, at best, amusingly trivial or, more likely, horrifyingly meaningless. The quotes are arranged chronologically, with extensive commentary and numerous biographical sketches of the most intensely dark thinkers of all time.
A brief history of nihilism is included… and there is a disturbing interview with an avowed nihilist, a prominent academician who insisted on anonymity. In short, the book is a profound concentration of negativity.
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>>36163
>If something starts off bad it more than likely will continue to be bad
This is true. Before I buy a book, I read a few lines of the first page and some in the middle. If I like the way the author expresses his Ideas I buy it. Modern shitty authors tend to write in a very simplified form (whose style is like the one used in newspapers) and with a really poor vocabulary, making it evident his lack of talent; reading a few lines of their books can tell you whether or not continue reading.
>>36159
Once I randomly bought a book and when I started reading it I realised it was a self-improvement one. I threw it away.
>If something starts off bad it more than likely will continue to be bad
This is true. Before I buy a book, I read a few lines of the first page and some in the middle. If I like the way the author expresses his Ideas I buy it. Modern shitty authors tend to write in a very simplified form (whose style is like the one used in newspapers) and with a really poor vocabulary, making it evident his lack of talent; reading a few lines of their books can tell you whether or not continue reading.
>>36159
Once I randomly bought a book and when I started reading it I realised it was a self-improvement one. I threw it away.
>>36456
Alright, pretty funny at times, but a weaker, less serious work than "Hamlet" or say "King Lear". Not really worth the read if you have something better to choose from Shakespeare or even another classic author like Goethe, Cervantes and others.
Alright, pretty funny at times, but a weaker, less serious work than "Hamlet" or say "King Lear". Not really worth the read if you have something better to choose from Shakespeare or even another classic author like Goethe, Cervantes and others.
What are some books, fiction or non-fiction, that are pro-suicide that I can purchase from a regular bookstore?
>inb4 peaceful pill handbook
>inb4 peaceful pill handbook
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Currently reading "Virtual light." Not a big fan of Gibson's work (i.e. Neuromancer, but I decided to give him another chance. It's not bad so far, I'm about 100 pages in, I think I'll continue reading it.
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>>36655
I read Neuromancer, thought it was O.K., but I had to slog through it a little. I picked up a lot of interest in Gibson after Pattern Recognition. I was thinking about reading either Virtual Light or Idoru, would you suggest it?
I read Neuromancer, thought it was O.K., but I had to slog through it a little. I picked up a lot of interest in Gibson after Pattern Recognition. I was thinking about reading either Virtual Light or Idoru, would you suggest it?
>>36661
I would, especially if you like cyberpunk. It's a mix of 90% actual with 10% science fiction, so it's not too strange. The plot, while sometimes confusing, is nowhere near as bad as Neuromancer. The book takes a while to set up, and has two main characters; a man called Berry, and a succubus. The plot bounces around a little, the only was I can describe it is "Gibsonesque", but it's very interesting. A cop who makes a lot of mistakes eventually teams up with the succubus. Although, I have to warn you, the characters are not wizards, and fucking does take place.
I would, especially if you like cyberpunk. It's a mix of 90% actual with 10% science fiction, so it's not too strange. The plot, while sometimes confusing, is nowhere near as bad as Neuromancer. The book takes a while to set up, and has two main characters; a man called Berry, and a succubus. The plot bounces around a little, the only was I can describe it is "Gibsonesque", but it's very interesting. A cop who makes a lot of mistakes eventually teams up with the succubus. Although, I have to warn you, the characters are not wizards, and fucking does take place.
>>36145
>How do I get into reading?
>where is my IMDB Top 100 for books?
Start out nice and easy by reading what everyone else is reading.
https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/?_r=0
>How do I get into reading?
>where is my IMDB Top 100 for books?
Start out nice and easy by reading what everyone else is reading.
https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/?_r=0
>>36145
Try reading novellas. The /lit/ wiki has a good list, just pick one with an interesting title. Novellas do tend to be more on the "literary" side since genre readers mostly expect longer stories than the format allows, but when time investment is a concern it's nice to be able to finish a book rather quickly.
Try reading novellas. The /lit/ wiki has a good list, just pick one with an interesting title. Novellas do tend to be more on the "literary" side since genre readers mostly expect longer stories than the format allows, but when time investment is a concern it's nice to be able to finish a book rather quickly.
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Glad I stumbled across this. In the opening chapters, which will be especially interesting for most wizards, Dr Crosby takes us on a lucid and devastatingly bleak tour of the arguments for nihilistic and pessimistic thought throughout the ages.
>The Specter of the Absurd: Sources and Criticisms of Modern Nihilism
This book is our century's most comprehensive and wise treatment of nihilism in all of its guises.
>The Specter of the Absurd: Sources and Criticisms of Modern Nihilism
This book is our century's most comprehensive and wise treatment of nihilism in all of its guises.
I need a new book on the order of machiavelli or francis bacon. Or shopenhauer. Long essays about humanity in general, with all the characteristic insightfulness and erudition of classical authorship. Anyone know what I mean?
>>36705
Gonna check it out. His wiki page is leading me to other fascinating figures like william hazlitt. Wow. Thanks. This is the good stuff.
Gonna check it out. His wiki page is leading me to other fascinating figures like william hazlitt. Wow. Thanks. This is the good stuff.
Do you wizards agree with this?
>>36306
Significantly, it is the Iliad (c.800 B.C.), the first work in the literary canon of the West, that defines the prototypical nihilistic stance.
Homer begins the poem ten years into the Trojan War and proceeds to delineate a desolate and nightmarish world engulfed in violence initiated at the whim of fickle Olympians.
The insignificant mortals trapped there respond with the Heroic Code, an existential paradigm invented to impose a tolerable form upon chaos, in this case, to give purpose to life by celebrating the contest and carnage of war. The code asserts that the only way to infuse some significance into what is otherwise a meaningless existence is to achieve aristeia, that moment of supreme excellence, a moment Heroic warriors could attain by death in battle while at their physical and intellectual apex.
By encouraging warriors to exchange life for a glorious but fleeting memory, the Heroic Code advocates a nihilistic repudiation of existence.
>>36306
Significantly, it is the Iliad (c.800 B.C.), the first work in the literary canon of the West, that defines the prototypical nihilistic stance.
Homer begins the poem ten years into the Trojan War and proceeds to delineate a desolate and nightmarish world engulfed in violence initiated at the whim of fickle Olympians.
The insignificant mortals trapped there respond with the Heroic Code, an existential paradigm invented to impose a tolerable form upon chaos, in this case, to give purpose to life by celebrating the contest and carnage of war. The code asserts that the only way to infuse some significance into what is otherwise a meaningless existence is to achieve aristeia, that moment of supreme excellence, a moment Heroic warriors could attain by death in battle while at their physical and intellectual apex.
By encouraging warriors to exchange life for a glorious but fleeting memory, the Heroic Code advocates a nihilistic repudiation of existence.
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Currently reading David Benatar's The Human Predicament. I pre-ordered it last year and it arrived in the mail recently. This book covers more ground than his earlier book Better Never To Have Been, which arguably kick-started the modern antinatalist "movement", even if it's mostly an internet phenomenon. Benatar covers the usual topics: quality of life, death, suffering, the meaning of life, suicide, and he doesn't offer any rosy conclusions: Life sucks and then you die.
>>37044
Not really. I mean every primitive culture thought that battle was a great thing and dying in battle for your nation and family is meaningful. How is that related with nihilism?
Not really. I mean every primitive culture thought that battle was a great thing and dying in battle for your nation and family is meaningful. How is that related with nihilism?
>>15564
Who are you trying to convince about that bullshit?
Is this one of those faggot subversion efforts targeted at this site?
Who are you trying to convince about that bullshit?
Is this one of those faggot subversion efforts targeted at this site?
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Colin Feltham is an interesting, pessimistic writer. He never goes full Ligotti or Benatar, but he is refreshingly honest about man and the human predicament. Also, he has read widely, across many disciplines, which really enriches his writing.
>What's Wrong with Us?: The Anthropathology Thesis
What’s wrong with us? Professor Colin Feltham believes that the current crises of the human condition are symptoms of a chronic wayward tendency which he terms ‘anthropathology’. This interdisciplinary look at the zeitgeist of crisis traces the roots of human suffering, exploring the contemporary issues of human violence, deceit, patriarchy, abuse, irrationality and greed. Our human anthropathology is placed at the heart of all such problems. Echoing the pessimism of Schopenhauer, Cioran, Beckett, Gray and others, Feltham nevertheless insists that answers may be formulated through confrontation.
>Keeping Ourselves in the Dark
In Keeping Ourselves in the Dark, psychotherapist cum "anthropathologist" Colin Feltham mounts a freewheeling inquiry into the myriad superstitions, illusions, maladies, and derangements that bedevil us. Rejecting rose-tinted clichés and niceties on all fronts, Feltham affirms the pessimist's verdict: Every glass is empty, and there is nothing to be done. Our search for "meaning," much less "enlightenment," was doomed from the start. Our most earnest questions are posed before the entropic churn of an indifferent universe, an abyss that only yawns back.
So be it. Feltham's assessment of the human predicament may be bleak, but he isn't ready to throw in the towel just yet. Raising a glass in death's antechamber, he instead brings his refreshingly undisciplined insight to bear on a dizzying range of subjects from depressive realism to fringe ecology, from the madness of religion to the folly of psychotherapy, from the mystery of existence to the vicissitudes of the Danish tax code. While asking impertinent questions concerning the raft of social anxieties, absurdities, anomalies, and taboos that vex and perplex us, Feltham even struggles to understand brighter views.
>What's Wrong with Us?: The Anthropathology Thesis
What’s wrong with us? Professor Colin Feltham believes that the current crises of the human condition are symptoms of a chronic wayward tendency which he terms ‘anthropathology’. This interdisciplinary look at the zeitgeist of crisis traces the roots of human suffering, exploring the contemporary issues of human violence, deceit, patriarchy, abuse, irrationality and greed. Our human anthropathology is placed at the heart of all such problems. Echoing the pessimism of Schopenhauer, Cioran, Beckett, Gray and others, Feltham nevertheless insists that answers may be formulated through confrontation.
>Keeping Ourselves in the Dark
In Keeping Ourselves in the Dark, psychotherapist cum "anthropathologist" Colin Feltham mounts a freewheeling inquiry into the myriad superstitions, illusions, maladies, and derangements that bedevil us. Rejecting rose-tinted clichés and niceties on all fronts, Feltham affirms the pessimist's verdict: Every glass is empty, and there is nothing to be done. Our search for "meaning," much less "enlightenment," was doomed from the start. Our most earnest questions are posed before the entropic churn of an indifferent universe, an abyss that only yawns back.
So be it. Feltham's assessment of the human predicament may be bleak, but he isn't ready to throw in the towel just yet. Raising a glass in death's antechamber, he instead brings his refreshingly undisciplined insight to bear on a dizzying range of subjects from depressive realism to fringe ecology, from the madness of religion to the folly of psychotherapy, from the mystery of existence to the vicissitudes of the Danish tax code. While asking impertinent questions concerning the raft of social anxieties, absurdities, anomalies, and taboos that vex and perplex us, Feltham even struggles to understand brighter views.
I read The Prince and while it's thrown around like a meme it's actually a good book for ruthless Chads
File: 1499219570705.pdf (110.64 KB, The Last Messiah - Peter W….pdf)
I just finished reading Zapffe's "The Last Messiah", a short but great essay.
I liked it so much that I converted it to a book-like format (since I couldn't find one on the net), with cover, index and page numbering, all to make its reading easier and enjoyable.
Here's the PDF file. Hope you like it.
I liked it so much that I converted it to a book-like format (since I couldn't find one on the net), with cover, index and page numbering, all to make its reading easier and enjoyable.
Here's the PDF file. Hope you like it.
>>37301
>Rejecting rose-tinted clichés and niceties on all fronts
>Feltham's assessment of the human predicament may be bleak, but he isn't ready to throw in the towel just yet.
>Feltham even struggles to understand brighter views.
Every time. I wish there was a single "pessimistic" writer willing to take his philosophy to the logic conclusion instead of backing off at the last minute with "actually life is worth it jus b urself :^)"
>Rejecting rose-tinted clichés and niceties on all fronts
>Feltham's assessment of the human predicament may be bleak, but he isn't ready to throw in the towel just yet.
>Feltham even struggles to understand brighter views.
Every time. I wish there was a single "pessimistic" writer willing to take his philosophy to the logic conclusion instead of backing off at the last minute with "actually life is worth it jus b urself :^)"
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I'd like to read a philosophical work that can alter my entire world view, and I'm willing to put in some work, but all I've read is some of Plato's dialogues. I'd like to read Kant, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche some day, but I've heard they all require extensive reading of their predecessors. Is there anything that you'd call truly insightful that I won't have to spend months working up to? Excluding stuff like Stoicism and Eastern religion, also.
Sorry for the bland request, here's a passage I really liked from Steppenwolf as compensation.
Sorry for the bland request, here's a passage I really liked from Steppenwolf as compensation.
>>37777
My wiz! Steppenwolf is such a great book, as for your question I'd recommend Camus, his stuff really shook me to the core and it's not taxing to read, don't have to reread oassages a bunch
My wiz! Steppenwolf is such a great book, as for your question I'd recommend Camus, his stuff really shook me to the core and it's not taxing to read, don't have to reread oassages a bunch
>>37780
I've read The Stranger, and I have Nausea by Sartre which is supposed to be similar. Honestly, I'm not quite sure those authors will be of help, though. I can't get aesthetic pleasure from reading anymore, so I'm just in it for the ideas. I respect thoughts like "You make your own meaning", but without any details of what they signify and how they can be applied, I can't really do much with them. Do you know what in Existentialism I should focus on in that regard?
I'm looking for new ways to view the world, and I'm open to almost anything - I just need something I can actually have faith in.
I've read The Stranger, and I have Nausea by Sartre which is supposed to be similar. Honestly, I'm not quite sure those authors will be of help, though. I can't get aesthetic pleasure from reading anymore, so I'm just in it for the ideas. I respect thoughts like "You make your own meaning", but without any details of what they signify and how they can be applied, I can't really do much with them. Do you know what in Existentialism I should focus on in that regard?
I'm looking for new ways to view the world, and I'm open to almost anything - I just need something I can actually have faith in.
>>37771
How so? He indeed wrote about communist ideology and psychoanalysis in the fourth section, but he just considered both only as attempts
>"(…) by novel means to vary the old escape anew; applying, respectively, violence and guile to make humans biologically fit by ensnaring their critical surplus of cognition. (…)"
The only real solution he proposed is in the last section, where he says
>"(…) – Know yourselves – be infertile and let the earth be silent after ye."
How so? He indeed wrote about communist ideology and psychoanalysis in the fourth section, but he just considered both only as attempts
>"(…) by novel means to vary the old escape anew; applying, respectively, violence and guile to make humans biologically fit by ensnaring their critical surplus of cognition. (…)"
The only real solution he proposed is in the last section, where he says
>"(…) – Know yourselves – be infertile and let the earth be silent after ye."
>>37784
It's kind of depressing that the people who followed Schopenhauer were so unwizardly, I think Camus' futile, irrational, yet potentially vivifying rebellion alongside Sarte's understanding that we are condemned to freedom are the paths that inevitably trap us here. They both however were hooked on sex and love, Camus repeatedly talks about love and sex in his workbooks. I suppose Sartre's attempt to find an "authentic" love with Beauvoir was at least something different, the subjective failure of that might even vindicate wizardry.
Schopenhauer compared to them was doing alright, if I remember correctly Nietzsche just outright accuses Schopenhauer of being biologically inferior/broken somewhere because he can't understand how the arts aren't rousing his life affirming energies. When I read it I just smiled, Schopenhauer was a mage apprentice who fell.
It's kind of depressing that the people who followed Schopenhauer were so unwizardly, I think Camus' futile, irrational, yet potentially vivifying rebellion alongside Sarte's understanding that we are condemned to freedom are the paths that inevitably trap us here. They both however were hooked on sex and love, Camus repeatedly talks about love and sex in his workbooks. I suppose Sartre's attempt to find an "authentic" love with Beauvoir was at least something different, the subjective failure of that might even vindicate wizardry.
Schopenhauer compared to them was doing alright, if I remember correctly Nietzsche just outright accuses Schopenhauer of being biologically inferior/broken somewhere because he can't understand how the arts aren't rousing his life affirming energies. When I read it I just smiled, Schopenhauer was a mage apprentice who fell.
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>>37789
>It's kind of depressing that the people who followed Schopenhauer were so unwizardly
Not exactly.
Ever heard of Philipp Mainländer? He's a very wizardly philosopher and disciple of Schopenhauer, but far more pessimistic. He even advocated chastity and suicide in his works. He killed himself at age 34 and, as far as I know, he never married.
Nietzsche, in all his douchebaggery, called Mainländer a "mawkish apostle of virginity" in his book The Gay Science.
Too bad there is no english translation of his main work Philosophie der Erlösung, sadly.
Another philosopher who I consider wizardly was Julius Bahnsen, although he was twice married (his first wife died months after and had an unhappy marriage with his second wife), but he is very pessimistic nonetheless.
As a schopenhauerian, Bahnsen expanded the concept of Will: as being the main driving force of the universe, it is also self-contradictory.
>It's kind of depressing that the people who followed Schopenhauer were so unwizardly
Not exactly.
Ever heard of Philipp Mainländer? He's a very wizardly philosopher and disciple of Schopenhauer, but far more pessimistic. He even advocated chastity and suicide in his works. He killed himself at age 34 and, as far as I know, he never married.
Nietzsche, in all his douchebaggery, called Mainländer a "mawkish apostle of virginity" in his book The Gay Science.
Too bad there is no english translation of his main work Philosophie der Erlösung, sadly.
Another philosopher who I consider wizardly was Julius Bahnsen, although he was twice married (his first wife died months after and had an unhappy marriage with his second wife), but he is very pessimistic nonetheless.
As a schopenhauerian, Bahnsen expanded the concept of Will: as being the main driving force of the universe, it is also self-contradictory.
>>37792
I also found an article which explains a bit more about them, for those who are interested:
https://medium.com/@blackastheace/life-is-not-great-1e803641f470
Compared to these two men, Camus and Sartre were just little children.
I also found an article which explains a bit more about them, for those who are interested:
https://medium.com/@blackastheace/life-is-not-great-1e803641f470
Compared to these two men, Camus and Sartre were just little children.
I've been reading The Disaster Artist, a book written by the guy who played Mark in The Room. I never watched the full movie, but I'm really curious about Tommy Wiseau. The guy acts like a complete autist and low IQ tard but he still somehow has a massive fortune. The book covers both the production of the movie and the friendship between Greg and Tommy. It's completely hilarious but it doesn't give out any actual details about Tommy other than his daily cringy interactions.
There's also a documentary that was supposed to come out late June but apparently they can't ship out the DVDs because Tommy is suing.
There's also a documentary that was supposed to come out late June but apparently they can't ship out the DVDs because Tommy is suing.
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>>37760
In a book about ecophilosophy I came across a few interesting mentions of Zapffe.
Shut Up
For Zapffe, nature is best off without people; yes, in the long term without the human race at all. Humans can only do harm. To nature, and to themselves. I myself have a lifelong membership in an association he founded in the early 1970s. Actually it is rather a non-association. Only virtual memberships. But with obligations to act according to certain norms. It was named the Shut Up association.
When you stumble into a particularly splendid piece of nature, or climb to a magnificent mountaintop. Shut up. Don't tell anybody. If you do, more people will be attracted and the original qualities will be destroyed.
Like the other Norwegian ecophilosophers Arne Næss and Sigmund Kvaløy, Zapffe was a keen mountaineer. He enjoyed the richness and diversity of nature but to him mountain climbing as a human activity was just as meaningless as human life itself. Once, while climbing the spire of Tromsø cathedral he proclaimed that he could not ascend further by means of the church. He lived as he taught in all relations. And although married for nearly fifty years to the same succubus he chose to remain childless. His name was only to be inherited by a mountain peak he once climbed.
In a book about ecophilosophy I came across a few interesting mentions of Zapffe.
Shut Up
For Zapffe, nature is best off without people; yes, in the long term without the human race at all. Humans can only do harm. To nature, and to themselves. I myself have a lifelong membership in an association he founded in the early 1970s. Actually it is rather a non-association. Only virtual memberships. But with obligations to act according to certain norms. It was named the Shut Up association.
When you stumble into a particularly splendid piece of nature, or climb to a magnificent mountaintop. Shut up. Don't tell anybody. If you do, more people will be attracted and the original qualities will be destroyed.
Like the other Norwegian ecophilosophers Arne Næss and Sigmund Kvaløy, Zapffe was a keen mountaineer. He enjoyed the richness and diversity of nature but to him mountain climbing as a human activity was just as meaningless as human life itself. Once, while climbing the spire of Tromsø cathedral he proclaimed that he could not ascend further by means of the church. He lived as he taught in all relations. And although married for nearly fifty years to the same succubus he chose to remain childless. His name was only to be inherited by a mountain peak he once climbed.
Tried reading The Trial by Franz Kafka but lost interest halfway because it is unexpectedly full of sexual themes. Not sure what else to read related to absurdism; already read some Camus and Nausea
>>37761
Phillip Mainlander. He was a German philosopher who hanged himself by standing on a pile of his own books, just delivered from the publisher. He was one of the crazier pessimists, however.
I understand your frustration, but no complete nihilist is going to bother writing a book or explaining themselves in any way, nor are they going to have any interest in reading such a book. They would just kill themselves and get it over with. The very act of writing or reading betrays some kind of belief in the value of doing so. Pessimism is not nihilism and not killing yourself doesn't mean you can consider a darker view of life.
Also, as a tangent, the whole contrarian streak in pessimistic and especially antinatalist subcultures frustrates me to no end. I'm not accusing you or anyone else in this thread of doing it, but I've read comments on other sites that read as though people are trying to show off that they are the edgiest, most pessimistic of them all. It's so disgustingly hypocritical.
Phillip Mainlander. He was a German philosopher who hanged himself by standing on a pile of his own books, just delivered from the publisher. He was one of the crazier pessimists, however.
I understand your frustration, but no complete nihilist is going to bother writing a book or explaining themselves in any way, nor are they going to have any interest in reading such a book. They would just kill themselves and get it over with. The very act of writing or reading betrays some kind of belief in the value of doing so. Pessimism is not nihilism and not killing yourself doesn't mean you can consider a darker view of life.
Also, as a tangent, the whole contrarian streak in pessimistic and especially antinatalist subcultures frustrates me to no end. I'm not accusing you or anyone else in this thread of doing it, but I've read comments on other sites that read as though people are trying to show off that they are the edgiest, most pessimistic of them all. It's so disgustingly hypocritical.
A whole book of poems written by wageslaves on Mechnical Turk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_the_Subcontract
https://books.google.com/books?id=1adoDQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=of+the+subcontract&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXro24joDVAhUQET4KHew1DB8Q6AEIJDAA#v=onepage&q&f=true
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_the_Subcontract
https://books.google.com/books?id=1adoDQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=of+the+subcontract&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXro24joDVAhUQET4KHew1DB8Q6AEIJDAA#v=onepage&q&f=true
I finished reading "on the road" by kerouac and it was really bad. basically a road trip of 2 Chads partying , fucking succubi and sometimes men , doing drugs, fucking eachother girlfriends , and listening to black music
don't bother reading it
don't bother reading it
>>37760
>>37803
I found an interview and two documentaries of/about Zapffe on norwegian TV:
https://www.nrk.no/embed/PS*183891
https://tv.nrk.no/program/FTRO70003090/den-humoristiske-pessimist
https://tv.nrk.no/serie/smilende-penner/FUHA01006574/15-12-1974
We would be glad if a scandinavian wizard transcript or translate it to us.
>>37803
I found an interview and two documentaries of/about Zapffe on norwegian TV:
https://www.nrk.no/embed/PS*183891
https://tv.nrk.no/program/FTRO70003090/den-humoristiske-pessimist
https://tv.nrk.no/serie/smilende-penner/FUHA01006574/15-12-1974
We would be glad if a scandinavian wizard transcript or translate it to us.
>>37792
> there is no english translation of his main work Philosophie der Erlösung
Does someone know how copyrights work? I'm on the lookout for translating rare works for some time now. This here would be a great opportunity.
> there is no english translation of his main work Philosophie der Erlösung
Does someone know how copyrights work? I'm on the lookout for translating rare works for some time now. This here would be a great opportunity.
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Has anyone read this book? It's pretty good, sometimes too much I think like paying homeless people to set up things for you, or pay for things under a business name you started just for that purpose. Other than that it's good, like preventing offline doxxxing in a way.
Some of the things talked about:
How private investigators find people (very clever ways actually), how to avoid giving SSN but still get a job or anything else, keep your address private by using a ghost address to get mail, avoid people copying your signature, etc.
Are pdf links allowed (if anyone wants it) or no?
Some of the things talked about:
How private investigators find people (very clever ways actually), how to avoid giving SSN but still get a job or anything else, keep your address private by using a ghost address to get mail, avoid people copying your signature, etc.
Are pdf links allowed (if anyone wants it) or no?
>>37993
>How private investigators find people (very clever ways actually)
I'm curious about this. And the book seems useful, even if no one is really looking for you, it can help sate paranoia a bit.
>How private investigators find people (very clever ways actually)
I'm curious about this. And the book seems useful, even if no one is really looking for you, it can help sate paranoia a bit.
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>>37988
I was considering learning german just for the purpose of translating those obscure german pessimist philosophers like Mainländer and Bahnsen.
I guess the old original edition is in the public domain (link below). Don't know about the newer 1989 version with a preface by Ulrich Horstmann.
https://archive.org/details/bub_gb__MUYAAAAIAAJ
I was considering learning german just for the purpose of translating those obscure german pessimist philosophers like Mainländer and Bahnsen.
I guess the old original edition is in the public domain (link below). Don't know about the newer 1989 version with a preface by Ulrich Horstmann.
https://archive.org/details/bub_gb__MUYAAAAIAAJ
>>38002
>I was considering learning german just for the purpose of translating those obscure german pessimist philosophers like Mainländer and Bahnsen.
19th century German is pretty difficult. Good luck with that.
>I was considering learning german just for the purpose of translating those obscure german pessimist philosophers like Mainländer and Bahnsen.
19th century German is pretty difficult. Good luck with that.
>>38008
I know. Even contemporary german seems complicated to me (my native language is Portuguese). And, since I don't have enough willpower to do such big thing (learning a difficult language and then translating a whole old book), it will only remain as a distant dream.
I know. Even contemporary german seems complicated to me (my native language is Portuguese). And, since I don't have enough willpower to do such big thing (learning a difficult language and then translating a whole old book), it will only remain as a distant dream.
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Do you guys have a preferred translation of most Dostoevsky novels?
Went to the bookstore earlier today. The Garnett translations are a quarter of the price of P&V and mcduff etc. Researching the quality of translations online hasn't made it any easier. Lot of people really rate P&V translations but I read a bunch of articles that made strong arguments for their translations being over-hyped, inaccurate and 'russofied' at the cost of readability for westerners.
Went to the bookstore earlier today. The Garnett translations are a quarter of the price of P&V and mcduff etc. Researching the quality of translations online hasn't made it any easier. Lot of people really rate P&V translations but I read a bunch of articles that made strong arguments for their translations being over-hyped, inaccurate and 'russofied' at the cost of readability for westerners.
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Since Ted Kaczynski is mentioned in this thread, has anyone read about Nick Land? Give me some time to look for his writing.
This is one of them, for the time being:
http://www.ccru.net/swarm1/1_melt.htm
This is one of them, for the time being:
http://www.ccru.net/swarm1/1_melt.htm
File: 1500809683371.pdf (1.29 MB, oauzos.pdf)
>>38070
This is a pdf of the compilation of his writings.
This is a pdf of the compilation of his writings.
I've been reading James Clavell Shogun for a month. It's pretty long, and I'm about half way done. If I'd put effort in it, I would read it way faster, but my attention span is destroyed.
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Requesting this one if in case someone has it.
>>38020
I think that translations by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky are pretty good. They also include explanations of all the old cultural historical references which is nice to get a better grasp of the time period. Other than that I've only read Penguin Classic versions, which while okay didn't quite feel as good.
I think that translations by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky are pretty good. They also include explanations of all the old cultural historical references which is nice to get a better grasp of the time period. Other than that I've only read Penguin Classic versions, which while okay didn't quite feel as good.
This might sound weird but are there any books out there that are similar to the first 3 episodes of the new Samurai Jack season. Of course the season got beyond bad by the time it ended, but those first 3 episodes were fucking amazing. I'm looking for a book with a character similar to punished Jack where he's given up on life and just roams around while people are trying to kill him. Thanks.
File: 1502335171222.pdf (8.41 MB, [gall]systemantics.pdf)
Systemantics - John Gall
Really enjoyed this book, it sets up a simple theory framework for systems and why they're so shit even though they promise the world whether it's some government policy, a company, or a thing. It's a quite pessimistic though but it's the right sort of pessimism. It's a short read too which is something I liked. Here are a few axioms that I enjoyed
>a fail-safe system fails when it fails to fail safe
>the real world is whatever is reported to the system
i.e. if you don't have a paper trail then it never happened
>the system itself does not do what it says it's doing
for example, a company that makes shoes typically doesn't have a single person in it that can make a shoe.
Really enjoyed this book, it sets up a simple theory framework for systems and why they're so shit even though they promise the world whether it's some government policy, a company, or a thing. It's a quite pessimistic though but it's the right sort of pessimism. It's a short read too which is something I liked. Here are a few axioms that I enjoyed
>a fail-safe system fails when it fails to fail safe
>the real world is whatever is reported to the system
i.e. if you don't have a paper trail then it never happened
>the system itself does not do what it says it's doing
for example, a company that makes shoes typically doesn't have a single person in it that can make a shoe.
Has anyone here read house of leaves? It's definitely one of my favorites.
Also I like to read Agatha Christie books, they aren't particularly great, but they're a really fun read.
Also I like to read Agatha Christie books, they aren't particularly great, but they're a really fun read.
>>36306
I'm thinking about buying this. Where did you stumble upon this book? It's got close to no reviews, despite being around for quite a while already. Still no PDFs?
I'm thinking about buying this. Where did you stumble upon this book? It's got close to no reviews, despite being around for quite a while already. Still no PDFs?
>>38715
One more thing: will I be able to enjoy the book, having completely no background in history?
One more thing: will I be able to enjoy the book, having completely no background in history?
File: 1503138454154.pdf (7.78 MB, The_Complete_Works_of_H.P.….pdf)
>>38605
>Has anyone here read house of leaves? It's definitely one of my favorites.
Sure have, and I loved it. It's fascinating how it's book about something self-referential which becomes itself self-referential in every way, down even to its design and typesetting. This short description of course does this quality little justice but if you've read it I fully trust you know exactly what I am talking about and why it makes the book so great.
Currently, I'm re-reading Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. I haven't read it since the first time I did in around 2012 so there's a lot to rediscover; the volumes contain a lot and it's some really great sci-fi fantasy. Have been enjoying it.
Anyway, have some free Lovecraft.
>Has anyone here read house of leaves? It's definitely one of my favorites.
Sure have, and I loved it. It's fascinating how it's book about something self-referential which becomes itself self-referential in every way, down even to its design and typesetting. This short description of course does this quality little justice but if you've read it I fully trust you know exactly what I am talking about and why it makes the book so great.
Currently, I'm re-reading Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. I haven't read it since the first time I did in around 2012 so there's a lot to rediscover; the volumes contain a lot and it's some really great sci-fi fantasy. Have been enjoying it.
Anyway, have some free Lovecraft.
Used to read a lot. Stopped when I got into programming. Got sick and tired of computer stuff in general. Bought an e-reader.
Got a great deal of catching up to do. I'm starting LOTR (yes, I haven't read it).
It's beeen a while since I read fiction. Also I wish there were more epubs and less pdfs
Got a great deal of catching up to do. I'm starting LOTR (yes, I haven't read it).
It's beeen a while since I read fiction. Also I wish there were more epubs and less pdfs
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>>37792
goddamn I love being german and being able to read all this stuff.
goddamn I love being german and being able to read all this stuff.
>>36703
Picked this up on this recommendation, and only just recently got a bit past the 3/5ths mark, skimming the rest.
Sorry to say I did not like it. Way too often the author doesn't make his first principles clear, or states that something is "obvious" when it isn't, or claims that something is clearly a failure state or a logical error when it is not necessarily (again part of his failure to clearly state his propositions). The few good points he makes are somewhat muddled by the rest being hit or miss. On the whole his arguments lack a comprehensive nature and fail to do much more than indicate that there may be some critical failure in the assumptions, without actually proving that his criticisms are entirely warranted, let alone a death blow.
Also the guy has the incredibly annoying habit that many philosophers resort to when they don't like something. In order to have their cake and eat it too, they either redefine everything or simply throw out any system which they must conclude they don't like and then make a new one.
Admittedly, I'm probably more than a bit biased as a nihilist and a pessimist, but I was honestly hoping that there would be something substantial to his critique, instead it was mostly just the oft repeated sort of Camus "we must imagine Sisyphus happy" bullshit that really answers nothing and instead harps on about how we just need to imagine meaning in our lives or not give up on free will, art, love, natural philosophy and other such crud.
Picked this up on this recommendation, and only just recently got a bit past the 3/5ths mark, skimming the rest.
Sorry to say I did not like it. Way too often the author doesn't make his first principles clear, or states that something is "obvious" when it isn't, or claims that something is clearly a failure state or a logical error when it is not necessarily (again part of his failure to clearly state his propositions). The few good points he makes are somewhat muddled by the rest being hit or miss. On the whole his arguments lack a comprehensive nature and fail to do much more than indicate that there may be some critical failure in the assumptions, without actually proving that his criticisms are entirely warranted, let alone a death blow.
Also the guy has the incredibly annoying habit that many philosophers resort to when they don't like something. In order to have their cake and eat it too, they either redefine everything or simply throw out any system which they must conclude they don't like and then make a new one.
Admittedly, I'm probably more than a bit biased as a nihilist and a pessimist, but I was honestly hoping that there would be something substantial to his critique, instead it was mostly just the oft repeated sort of Camus "we must imagine Sisyphus happy" bullshit that really answers nothing and instead harps on about how we just need to imagine meaning in our lives or not give up on free will, art, love, natural philosophy and other such crud.
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>>18250
>It's one of the most wizardly activities really, much better than rotting away on wizchan.
No
I've been trying to read Never Let Me Go, and I constantly disconnect from what is in the book due to the relationships the characters take, and how the talk about sexscum in an underage state
Realising how disgustingly normalfag is the literature audience pulled me off bigly
>It's one of the most wizardly activities really, much better than rotting away on wizchan.
No
I've been trying to read Never Let Me Go, and I constantly disconnect from what is in the book due to the relationships the characters take, and how the talk about sexscum in an underage state
Realising how disgustingly normalfag is the literature audience pulled me off bigly
>>40848
Succubi have dug themselves into mainstream literature since 1800s through being muse or being writers, even so that most readers now are succubi, but succubi do not read anything written before 1800s and they do not read "hard" genre fiction that is not social or sexual.
Succubi have dug themselves into mainstream literature since 1800s through being muse or being writers, even so that most readers now are succubi, but succubi do not read anything written before 1800s and they do not read "hard" genre fiction that is not social or sexual.
i'm looking for books that will make me want to off myself, or at least encourage cynical, depressive view on life
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