What are you reading

[Diseased Peasant]

Albert Camus's The Myth of Sisyphus, he uses so much jargon

Can't say I have ever thought of using the word jargon with anything of Camus. But I am rather a fan of his work, especially his book Resistance Rebellion and Death.

James Salter and Ernest Hemingway come to mind as far as simpler more to the point style of writing if that is what you are going for. I've seen a few others mention it on here recently but I would also recommend Storm of Steel. Maybe try Mark Twain's Dairies of Adam and Eve?

Anyways, haven't had the time I would like to read so stalled on Nightmare Alley. Took a day though to read Lawrence Ferlinghetti's A Coney Island of the Mind. Mixed bag of good and bad poems, however the good parts out weigh the bad and I would recommend it.

Idk if I'd call the way Camus writes Jargon, maybe that was a poor use of the word. No, I wouldn't say he uses Jargon as far as I noticed, he wasn't referencing words not used by common man, I don't think. No the problem with Camus is sometimes the way he writes a sentence just makes no sense, I think that sums up what I'm trying to say a little better, I hope. Short of giving specific examples I'm not sure what else I could describe about his work, I only read 2 pages.

To each their own. I've known plenty of people who don't like Camus writings for reasons or another. Just was one I hadn't heard before. Although less confusing then the people who act as if you have to chose between Camus and Sartre.

[Duality]

Maybe there'd be some sort of paradigm shift in the way my brain thinks from the first time I read Kafka, so the second time I read one of his books it wouldn't be so depressing. Just a thought, but I somehow doubt it. Idk if words and ideas work the same way in when you see hear feel taste or smell something that is unpleasant to you, or if they become less troubling as your mind gets used to the idea.

If you think Kafka is depressing, you should try Thomas Ligotti

[holy ghost]

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Loving it so far.

Just read The Name of the Wind which was pretty great too.

[acsenger]

Noam Chomsky – Chronicles of Dissent

A collection of interviews with Chomsky between 1984 and 1991, focusing on a wide range of American and international issues and a few segments of Chomsky's personal life. Very interesting throughout; one of the topics I didn't know basically anything about was America's aggression in Central America in the 1980s.

Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke – The Occult Roots of Nazism

A thoroughly researched and mostly impartial book about so-called völkisch movements in Austria, Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels and his theozoology, the Thule Society etc. that all somehow influenced Nazism. (If you're looking for a book about the occult beliefs of Nazi leaders, this is not it though – this is, as the title implies, about the movement's occult roots.) There are plenty of crazy pan-German fantasies in the book, but the most insane ideas were those of Lanz von Liebenfels, I reckon. A very good book.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – The Little Prince

I'm pretty sure I read this as a kid, but since I didn't remember it, I decided to re-read it. I actually didn't like it that much, it was a bit incoherent at times in my view. Nevertheless, it's a heartwrenching book that's well worth reading. I was surprised to learn from the internet that this is one of the best-selling books ever. How such a brutally sad novella can be so popular or considered a children's book is beyond me...

[Andrew McIntosh]

Finally reading Cioran at last ("The Problem With Being Born" and "A Short History Of Decay"). I thought Schopenhauer and Ligotti were mind expanding. This stuff is pure fucking manna.

[cantle]

Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke – The Occult Roots of Nazism

A thoroughly researched and mostly impartial book about so-called völkisch movements in Austria, Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels and his theozoology, the Thule Society etc. that all somehow influenced Nazism. (If you're looking for a book about the occult beliefs of Nazi leaders, this is not it though – this is, as the title implies, about the movement's occult roots.) There are plenty of crazy pan-German fantasies in the book, but the most insane ideas were those of Lanz von Liebenfels, I reckon. A very good book.

have you read the 'sequel' Black Sun?

[acsenger]

have you read the 'sequel' Black Sun?

No, I haven't. I just checked it out on the net. I'm not sure if I'm interested enough in the topic to read another book even if it's not the exact same topic, but I'll keep the book in mind.

[cr]

Just halfway through 'The Minotauress' by Edward Lee.

[cr]

Interesting and entertaining read for in between:

'Life never ends well' by Jim Goad

[oOoOoOo]

Where does someone find real knowledge? I read these news media articles all the time, it always seems like they're written to entertain people, or toot their horn to their audience. It makes me wonder what sort of alternative sources of information that people have, just short of following their own interests and reading books from the library. I wish that I had the sort of patience to discover information this way, but often times when I pick up a book I can't bring myself to read it unless it doesn't feel like a waste of time.

On a slightly different note, I have been wondering what I should read. I find it hard to just read for the sake of reading, I think when I find a book that is truly interesting to me then I can read it just fine. I find that this is how I am in general. I don't just want to read a book, I want to read a book that makes me feel something different. I want a book that changes the way I look at the world around me. I find that as I mature as a human being, the world starts to appear from different perspectives, I want to expand my mind. This is why I have been thinking about reading philosophy books, but I've been procrastinating.

[Sturmfieber]

Louis-Ferdinand Céline - Journey to the End of the Night

[Diseased Peasant]

On a slightly different note, I have been wondering what I should read. I find it hard to just read for the sake of reading, I think when I find a book that is truly interesting to me then I can read it just fine. I find that this is how I am in general. I don't just want to read a book, I want to read a book that makes me feel something different. I want a book that changes the way I look at the world around me. I find that as I mature as a human being, the world starts to appear from different perspectives, I want to expand my mind. This is why I have been thinking about reading philosophy books, but I've been procrastinating.

Ever try audiobooks as opposed to reading? The Thief's Journal by Jean Genet? The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares? Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre? The Hotel Years by Joseph Roth?

Louis-Ferdinand Céline - Journey to the End of the Night

I still need to get around to reading this.

Anyways just finished What the Living do poems of Marie Howe. Next The Great Enigma poems of Thomas Transtromer and Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

[vixszanka]

On a slightly different note, I have been wondering what I should read. I find it hard to just read for the sake of reading, I think when I find a book that is truly interesting to me then I can read it just fine. I find that this is how I am in general. I don't just want to read a book, I want to read a book that makes me feel something different. I want a book that changes the way I look at the world around me. I find that as I mature as a human being, the world starts to appear from different perspectives, I want to expand my mind. This is why I have been thinking about reading philosophy books, but I've been procrastinating.

Would recommend Sartre, Camus, Kafka, or Nietzsche's "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" in terms of classic philosophical literature, but it doesn't seem like that has been working for you. On the flipside, I would recommend Philip K. Dick. He is a great gateway to philosophical and metaphysical concepts, but in a package that is highly engaging and easy to read. Valis trilogy is great, Ubik, A Scanner Darkly, etc... he was incredibly prolific, so lots to choose from.

Other great misanthropic/existentialist novels and writers: No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai, Against The Grain by J.K. Huysmans, Woman In The Dunes by Kobo Abe, Mysteries by Knut Hamsun, anything by Dostoyevsky, Thomas Bernhard, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Thomas Ligotti... the list goes on...

[tiny_tove]

reading the second issue of Italian counter cultural magazine Polemos in book format.

Very nice


http://polemos.eu/

[cr]

Edward Lee & John Pelan: GOON

Don't know really, but are the books from or with E. Lee such entertaining reads despite or because all the exaggerated sex and violence? ;-)