NaturaNaturans Posted June 25 So, lets see: 1. meditations by aurelius Spoiler So, I am now in the procces of reading this book. I do not read cover to cover, as it was written not in an attempt to win a pulitzer, but to reflect. This is reflected in the Norwegian tittle of the work: «to my self.» A little note before i continue: Aurelius wrote in greek, I am reading a Norwegian translation and translating it to english, so it will naturally be flawed. In the forward (by Viggo Johansen,) he raises the following question: how can a book written by the most powerfull person on the plannet, 1800 years ago, be relavent for us today? He writers: (…) every evening he (Aurelius) sits down to write, in order to remember who he is - a human. Not an emperor, but a human. For this reason, stoicism can appeal to the emperor himself, the slave Epiktet, and us. Our shell and roles are vastly different, but we are united in being human, and feel the same love, anger, desire to live authenticly, attempt to live morally and mortality. Since the will is free, we are free as well. We can be forced to act a certain way, but no one but our self controls our will, reactions and thoughts. What does it mean to be human? Science can not help us here. Science assumed that man and nature is purley material, but Viggo points out that this is just an assumption, and nothing more. A plausible assumption, but and assumption none the less. Wise men and traditions have, however, allways talked about spirit and soul. Aurelius writers: «Things can never touch the soul, but stand inert outside it, so that disquiet can arise only from fancies within.» Allthough we are more advanced technologicaly advanced today, are we any wiser? Do we understand what it is to be human? I would say no. I would even say we are less developted in this aspect. And i think this «book» shows that. It has been read and admired for almost 2000 years, by slaves, commoners and nobility as well - it touches on what it means to be human. 2. Children of Ash and Elm Neil Price attempts to write about the norse from the perspective of the norse. Very refreshing considering how much church propaganda, romanticism, nazism and demonisation they have been subject to. 3. Bhagavad Gita I wrote a summary here: 4. embarresed to say so, but Harry Potter series. It literally was my childhood. Hope to hear about What books or texts has been special to you, and more importantly; why. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kojiro Posted June 26 (edited) this kind of topic repeats itself again and again. Here comes my list: war and piece, Tolstoy brothers karamazov, Dostoievski a confederecy of dunes, Toole Meditations, Marcus Aurelius Solaris, Lem Republic, Plato Enchiridion, Epictetus Art of war, Sun Tzu Book of five rings, musashi Edited June 26 by Kojiro 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Apech Posted June 26 Lord of the Rings Hobbit The Owl Service - Alan Garner Red Shift - Alan Garner Nova - Samuel Delany Dhalgren -Samuel Delany Culture novels by Banks Sassoons war trilogy Memoires of a fox hunting man (not exhaustive) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
snowymountains Posted June 26 Meditations, Marcus Aurelius. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SirPalomides Posted June 26 Le Mort D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory The Bloody Chamber, by Angela Carter Fifteen Poets of the Aztec World by Miguel Leon Portilla Grimm's Fairy Tales Les Chants de Maldoror by Lautreamont Mirror of the Marvelous, by Pierre Mabille The King of Elfland's Daughter, by Lord Dunsany The Stars my Destination, by Alfred Bester The Palm-Wine Drinkard, by Amos Totuola Poems of Joyce Mansour Poems of Laurence Weisberg The Complete Stories of Leonora Carrington The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov Clark Ashton Smith's short stories The Monk, by Matthew Lewis What is Surrealism? by Andre Breton, ed. Franklin Rosemont Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NaturaNaturans Posted June 26 Thus spoke zarathustra Der Steppenwolf (Hesse) Hunger (Hamsun) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Apech Posted June 26 2 minutes ago, NaturaNaturans said: Thus spoke zarathustra Der Steppenwolf (Hesse) Hunger (Hamsun) Journey to the East is my fav Hesse. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NaturaNaturans Posted June 27 8 hours ago, Apech said: Journey to the East is my fav Hesse. By Hesse ive read Siddharta and steppenwolf. Both very good, so might give journey tte a try. On another note, you guys familiar with Murakami. I like him quite a bit, how about you? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Apech Posted June 27 31 minutes ago, NaturaNaturans said: By Hesse ive read Siddharta and steppenwolf. Both very good, so might give journey tte a try. On another note, you guys familiar with Murakami. I like him quite a bit, how about you? ive read Wind up bird chronicle and Kafka on the shore - liked both of them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nungali Posted June 27 Man Friday The story of Robinson Crusoe But this time, from Friday's perspective ! Its a film as well ; Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sherman Krebbs Posted June 27 (almost) anything cormac mccarthy. the first two of the border trilogy are fantastically good (never made it through the third). never thought I'd be into apocalypse novels, but i secretly cried at the end of the road. i still get chills thinking about the embrace at the end of blood meridian. reading suttree next. hesse is good too. the glass bead game is my favorite of his. the end of the main story line left me completely paralyzed. steppenwolf was too hippie for my taste, maybe I was not born to be wild. kurt vonnegut is good too. reading cats cradle now, which brings up an interesting question: why is there no subforum on this site for bokononism? another really good book is the man without qualities by musil. the first volume is really cool. very daoist imo. the second, unfinished one is somewhat disjointed (did not make it very far) for space opera, i like alistar reynolds (revelation space, chasm city, pushing ice), hyperion by simmons was good too. the second book in that series was good too, though I can't remember the name. the trial by kafka and nausea by sartre are also memorable. the stranger by camus is good too: why'd he take the shot? how can one pick an all time favorite. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NaturaNaturans Posted June 27 12 minutes ago, Brad M said: how can one pick an all time favorite. Hmmm… everyone is free to write what they like, but initially I was thinking about books or texts that means a lot to you, personally Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kojiro Posted June 27 (edited) 9 hours ago, Brad M said: (almost) anything cormac mccarthy. the first two of the border trilogy are fantastically good (never made it through the third). never thought I'd be into apocalypse novels, but i secretly cried at the end of the road. i still get chills thinking about the embrace at the end of blood meridian. reading suttree next. hesse is good too. the glass bead game is my favorite of his. the end of the main story line left me completely paralyzed. steppenwolf was too hippie for my taste, maybe I was not born to be wild. kurt vonnegut is good too. reading cats cradle now, which brings up an interesting question: why is there no subforum on this site for bokononism? another really good book is the man without qualities by musil. the first volume is really cool. very daoist imo. the second, unfinished one is somewhat disjointed (did not make it very far) for space opera, i like alistar reynolds (revelation space, chasm city, pushing ice), hyperion by simmons was good too. the second book in that series was good too, though I can't remember the name. the trial by kafka and nausea by sartre are also memorable. the stranger by camus is good too: why'd he take the shot? how can one pick an all time favorite. this weekend I am planning to read Cormac for the very first time, I already have Blood meridian ready to be open let's see how it goes, people talk very well of this book. It has been on my wishlist for a long time Edited June 27 by Kojiro 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gerard Posted June 28 (edited) In no particular order: -Alexandre Dumas - The Count of Monte Cristo -Edgar Allan Poe - Tales -Jack London - Call of the Wild -Paulo Coelho - The Alchemist -Manuel Mujica Lainez - Bomarzo -Bram Stoker - Dracula -Oscar Wilde -The Picture of Dorian Gray -Arthur Conan Doyle - The Hound of the Baskervilles -Carlos Castaneda - The Teachings of Don Juan -Marguerite Yourcenar - Opus Nigrum aka The Abyss -Middle Eastern folktales - One Thousand and One Nights -Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa - Tuareg -Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa - Sicario -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - The Little Prince - Patrick Süskind - Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Edited: forgot to add the last book on my list. Edited June 28 by Gerard Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sherman Krebbs Posted June 28 18 hours ago, Kojiro said: this weekend I am planning to read Cormac for the very first time, I already have Blood meridian ready to be open let's see how it goes, people talk very well of this book. It has been on my wishlist for a long time Its amazing, though not for the faint of heart. on my re-read list as well. Also, mccarthy uses an impressionistic writing style that personally took me some time getting used to, but once I did I could not stop. Its one of those books where you walk away feeling like you have gained some tremendous insight, though you cant exactly pinpoint what it is--good, bad or ugly. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kojiro Posted June 28 1 hour ago, Brad M said: Its amazing, though not for the faint of heart. on my re-read list as well. Also, mccarthy uses an impressionistic writing style that personally took me some time getting used to, but once I did I could not stop. Its one of those books where you walk away feeling like you have gained some tremendous insight, though you cant exactly pinpoint what it is--good, bad or ugly. do you think it is his best book? people also like the road and no country for old men, among others Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sherman Krebbs Posted June 30 On 6/28/2024 at 3:53 PM, Kojiro said: do you think it is his best book? people also like the road and no country for old men, among others hard to say. it is definitely the most gripping of his books ive read. i read that one first, and would probably again if i had to start over. i think i liked the crossing the best though, at least of the ones I have read. i only finished the road a few weeks ago. it has a different tempo, though the story is powerful--definitely more than worthy of all the awards. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doc benway Posted June 30 On 6/28/2024 at 7:26 AM, Brad M said: mccarthy uses an impressionistic writing style that personally took me some time getting used to, but once I did I could not stop On 6/28/2024 at 8:53 AM, Kojiro said: do you think it is his best book? people also like the road and no country for old men, among others I've read several others by McCarthy including The Road, No Country for Old Men, The Border Trilogy, Child of God, and Outer Dark. I can't really say which is his best but I listed Blood Meridian below because for me it was the most strikingly beautiful and original, even in it's brutality. Kind of like a Hieronymous Bosch painting reimagined through an impressionist lens Some of my favorites in fiction that come to mind are: Blindness - Jose Saramago Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami (3 way tie with 1Q84 and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle) Naked Lunch - William S Burroughs War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (not yet finished as I'm reading a chapter a day but no question among my favorites) Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkein One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy City of Thieves - David Benioff Hyperion Cantos - Dan Simmons Silo - Hugh Howey Gaia series - John Varley The Sparrow series - Mary Doria Russell Geek Love - Katherine Dunne Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell The Bone People - Keri Hulme A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess Satan: His Psychotherapy and Cure by the Unfortunate Dr. Kassler, JSPS - Jeremy Leven Kindred - Octavia Butler Remembrance of Earth's Past - Liu Cixin Voice of the FIre - Alan Moore The Book of Form and Emptiness - Ruth Ozeki A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kojiro Posted July 2 @silent thunder come on, it is your turn, give us your list Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doc benway Posted July 5 Some poetry - Rumi - everything! Life on Mars - Tracy Smith Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear - Mosab Abu Toha Devotions - Mary Oliver Milk and Honey - Rupi Kaur The Wasteland - TS Eliot Me (Moth) - Amber McBride Spirit Boxing - Afaa Michael Weaver Bright Dead Things - Ada Limon The Hill We Climb - Amanda Gorman Of Gods and Strangers - Tina Chang 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kojiro Posted July 11 (edited) and what about moby dick? nobody has listed it as one of his favourites. Yet some people claim is one of the best books ever written in English, so I am thinking if I should read after finishing Blood Meridian (my current reading). Some opinions on this book? thanks Edited July 11 by Kojiro 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Taomeow Posted July 11 2 hours ago, Kojiro said: and what about moby dick? nobody has listed it as one of his favourites. Yet some people claim is one of the best books ever written in English, so I am thinking if I should read after finishing Blood Meridian (my current reading). Some opinions on this book? thanks I read it in college, it was part of my American Literature course. (Read it in translation though, didn't have enough English back then for the original -- nor access to the original. Read the original years later.) Wrote a term paper on it too. My professor (whom I had a crush on by the way -- he was a fearless free thinker, a rare bird at the time/place, an eloquent, deeply and broadly educated man, and he looked like Kirk Douglas in Spartacus and had a most dignified demeanor but easygoing, not self-important... sorry for the tangent, got carried away by the memory) -- suggested "Man and Nature" as the focus of the paper, but I asked him to change it to "a study of the nature of evil" because I thought that was the main theme, so we compromised on changing the assignment title to something like "ethical problems tackled in Moby Dick." In hind sight, "man and nature" could have been a great aspect to touch upon too, but I was always a ponerologist,* and remain one to this day. I loved it, though when I re-read it later, I found that it's too long and there's a million pages there it could do without -- but then that's my opinion of most novels ever written, with some 5% exception consisting of those I hated to see the end of. To this day I count the opening line of Moby Dick one of the best opening lines in all of literature. (But don't let me write a paper on why. ) I delivered the oral presentation (which was required) of that term paper to the audience with such passion that everybody woke up (of course the audiences were typically sleeping through those presentations) and at the end cheered like it was a football match and their team scored. *Ponerology: a study of the nature of evil 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kojiro Posted July 11 1 hour ago, Taomeow said: I read it in college, it was part of my American Literature course. (Read it in translation though, didn't have enough English back then for the original -- nor access to the original. Read the original years later.) Wrote a term paper on it too. My professor (whom I had a crush on by the way -- he was a fearless free thinker, a rare bird at the time/place, an eloquent, deeply and broadly educated man, and he looked like Kirk Douglas in Spartacus and had a most dignified demeanor but easygoing, not self-important... sorry for the tangent, got carried away by the memory) -- suggested "Man and Nature" as the focus of the paper, but I asked him to change it to "a study of the nature of evil" because I thought that was the main theme, so we compromised on changing the assignment title to something like "ethical problems tackled in Moby Dick." In hind sight, "man and nature" could have been a great aspect to touch upon too, but I was always a ponerologist,* and remain one to this day. I loved it, though when I re-read it later, I found that it's too long and there's a million pages there it could do without -- but then that's my opinion of most novels ever written, with some 5% exception consisting of those I hated to see the end of. To this day I count the opening line of Moby Dick one of the best opening lines in all of literature. (But don't let me write a paper on why. ) I delivered the oral presentation (which was required) of that term paper to the audience with such passion that everybody woke up (of course the audiences were typically sleeping through those presentations) and at the end cheered like it was a football match and their team scored. *Ponerology: a study of the nature of evil I will let you know if I finally decide to read it By the way, if you are a true ponerologist then I guess you love Dostoievski 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
