Now Reading

  On 9/11/2011 at 7:10 PM, m u st co n t r ol t h o 4 said:

those would probably give me a heart attack!

 

 

 

 

The Ages of Extremes (Eric Hobsbawm)

I can't find the actual quote but something along the lines of how communism's failure was the most soul crushing tragedy of the 20th century made me buy this in minutes. My first history book. I'm starting the last third and so far I'm surprised it's so balanced coming from a Marxist historian because this makes capitalism look real good, maybe he's saving big bucks / twists for a grand finale? Can't wait. Oh yeah this is awesome.

Or maybe it's just that implementations of Marxist theory so far have been really shit? Capitalism has its good points as well as its bad points.

Anyways - just finished reading B.R. Myers - The Cleanest Race

I can't believe that this guy is a professor of International Relations (plus he doesn't know how to cite shit properly). The book has some interesting insight into how the North Korean propaganda machine works, but Myers seems very blinkered to the fact that his own precious US uses propaganda. He has no real knowledge of how IR actually works, and seems to think that he alone has finally penetrated the machinations of the north, and everyone else is wrong. He picks and chooses parts of quotes to fit his theory. So yeah uh, can't really recommend it, if you do read it, take a lot of the information and theories with a grain of salt.

  On 9/12/2011 at 6:59 AM, chenGOD said:

 

I can't believe that this guy is a professor of International Relations (plus he doesn't know how to cite shit properly).

I don't think I've ever met a professor who could cite anything properly.

It's usually [statement surrounded by quotes][note to grad student: find a quote like this from someone and cite it]

Wanted some light reading, so I figured I'd finally wrap up the Dark Tower series, even though I know my enjoyment will decrease steadily the more I read.

I read Books 1-4 between 1995 and 1997, from about 14-16 years old, and loved it. I read Book 5 roughly a year ago, age 29, and it was distinctly underwhelming. Now that I'm 30 I feel a strong urge to tie this particular loose end, for better or worse.

Re-reading The Rum Diaries now before I see the movie. Was one of my favorite books when I first read it, and I can understand why. Thompson was an amazing writer, and the book is just as good now. I'll go get a glass of rum and dive back in!

i was reading clash of kings

  On 9/13/2011 at 2:43 AM, impotentwhitecapitalist said:

 

 

Good for you, reading Nabokov makes you a smarter and better person, and that's a scientifically proven fact.

I'm reading this:

  On 7/25/2011 at 8:12 AM, verticalhold said:

Violence (Slavoj Zizek)

It bothers me that I wasted so much time reading lifestyle articles and opinion pieces by clowns instead of going to the source itself. This man is seriously funny and dangerous. Watch his Pervert's Guide to Cinema, then read this. I think the challops are to entertainingly poke you while bypassing censorship, what's behind is a coded call to arms. But in the end it is all a joke, always just a joke. His article on the London riots summarizes a number of points in the book http://www.lrb.co.uk...the-world-unite

  On 9/17/2011 at 4:29 AM, m u st co n t r ol t h o 4 said:

  On 7/25/2011 at 8:12 AM, verticalhold said:

 

 

Violence (Slavoj Zizek)

It bothers me that I wasted so much time reading lifestyle articles and opinion pieces by clowns instead of going to the source itself.

What does that even mean?

Anyways currently reading:

A really interesting look at the processes and people who changed the way we do international relations.

on the World War I kick, there is a fantastic "duology" by a writer on the lives of fin-de-siecle and pre-WWI Vienna, by Frederick Morton. Definitely a fun read for fiction fans, and a lot of historical intrigue for the historians. Includes a lot of important ideas and origins of Freudian theory without delving into Freud's proper writings.

-his feud with Carl Jung

-The heir apparent's suicide and subsequent coverup

-The strange sicknesses of Franz Josef's wive and daughter

-a young Adolf Hitler

-Brahms vs. Mahler, Richard Strauss and the relationship with his father, nice philosophical breakdown and analysis of the waltz as representation of society

lots of good stuff. You might enjoy them chen.

Also, I remember reading a lot of primary sources and then a book on the creation of the Versailles Treaty and it is infuriatingly hectic. Everyone wants their piece even though they, according to old "war standards" hadn't achieved any notable victories....the negotiations over Trieste alone are ridiculously interesting, and in hindsight surely show why we had another war a few decades later.

  On 9/17/2011 at 4:29 AM, m u st co n t r ol t h o 4 said:

  On 7/25/2011 at 8:12 AM, verticalhold said:

 

Violence (Slavoj Zizek)

It bothers me that I wasted so much time reading lifestyle articles and opinion pieces by clowns instead of going to the source itself. This man is seriously funny and dangerous. Watch his Pervert's Guide to Cinema, then read this. I think the challops are to entertainingly poke you while bypassing censorship, what's behind is a coded call to arms. But in the end it is all a joke, always just a joke. His article on the London riots summarizes a number of points in the book http://www.lrb.co.uk...the-world-unite

Ok, you have convinced me to give this a read through when i scrounge up some money (or find a library willing to get it for me). I saw an interview with him on the Middle Eastern protests, and he gave one of the best analyses of the situation IMHO.

I meant:

How a philosopher from Slovenia became an international star (The New Yorker)

http://www.lacan.com/ziny.htm

The Deadly Jester

http://www.tnr.com/a...e-deadly-jester

Zizek and Gaddafi: Living in the old world

http://english.aljaz...3418599933.html

Hey Smettingham your local library has it, I know exactly where it is!

It's good that you can dismiss criticisms so easily.

Smetty - that MacMillan book argues that there isn't a clear line that can be drawn between the Paris Peace Conference and WW2. I'll take a look at the Morton book after the schol year (I'm a sucker for historical fiction).

it's bad that to take any criticism seriously if you don't know the text yourself.

I'm just commenting on the fact that you immediately dismiss them as clowns because they write op-ed columns. Personally I think anyone who can be serious about being a marxist nowadays is a clown, but then again I'm not an economist and I don't even play one on TV.

  On 9/17/2011 at 8:56 PM, Smettingham Rutherford IV said:

  On 9/17/2011 at 4:29 AM, m u st co n t r ol t h o 4 said:

  On 7/25/2011 at 8:12 AM, verticalhold said:

 

Violence (Slavoj Zizek)

It bothers me that I wasted so much time reading lifestyle articles and opinion pieces by clowns instead of going to the source itself. This man is seriously funny and dangerous. Watch his Pervert's Guide to Cinema, then read this. I think the challops are to entertainingly poke you while bypassing censorship, what's behind is a coded call to arms. But in the end it is all a joke, always just a joke. His article on the London riots summarizes a number of points in the book http://www.lrb.co.uk...the-world-unite

 

Ok, you have convinced me to give this a read through when i scrounge up some money (or find a library willing to get it for me). I saw an interview with him on the Middle Eastern protests, and he gave one of the best analyses of the situation IMHO.

may I also suggest reading this...

as a continuation of his arguments on abstention and power

Oh as well as the MacMillan book also reading:

and

as well as the World Bank World Development Report 2011.

  On 9/17/2011 at 10:00 PM, m u st co n t r ol t h o 4 said:

it's bad that to take any criticism seriously if you don't know the text yourself.

  On 9/17/2011 at 10:05 PM, chenGOD said:

I'm just commenting on the fact that you immediately dismiss them as clowns because they write op-ed columns. Personally I think anyone who can be serious about being a marxist nowadays is a clown, but then again I'm not an economist and I don't even play one on TV.

One of the reasons Zizek is so interesting is precisely because people assume his professing of Marxism is a completely serious position, at least in the realm of the "real". What I find interesting is his ability and perhaps stubbornness to show how the psychological aspects of these systems are completely ridiculous and antithetical to their own professed beliefs....he even admits he is guilty of this.

I think you either approach Zizek enjoying his somewhat deconstructionist writing, or you think he's full of shit. I am pretty sure he would appreciate the sentiment either way. Interesting fellow.

I actually think that first article is a fantastic supplement to Zizek's overall style.

no no, the new yorker article is good but I have been reading that kind of stuff for almost a year and coupled with the tendentious / uninformed opinion pieces I was nearly convinced he was a buffoon. He is not.

Candide- Voltaire

Just finished The Road. Kind of amazed the sun still exists. Good book for some perspective on first world problems.

Also, the prose is beautiful.