What'cha Reading?

[Hiraeth]

Bob Dylan's Chronicles: Vol.1.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I'm re-reading "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey. It's feels more tragic, knowing McMurphy's end. But I am inspired by his rebellious nature, his individuality against the system, his effort to get the other patients to escape the fog of the Combine, to be human again. The day-to-day grind of the Combine, whether it's in the form of a mental hospital, peer group, culture, society, or government, always keeps its pressure on you to conform, until you shrivel into nothing but a tired sack of skin. And yet, as he demonstrated when he tried and failed to pick up the panel, even if you can't beat the system, it's better to have boldly lived on your own terms.

I recently read the part where Chief Broom mentions that McMurphy does what he wants to do, despite how he looks. He will write a beautiful letter or paint a picture, even though he only seems like a scarred, red-headed gambler, a hustler who likes to fight and fuck too much. And his laughter over everything, over a story, a card game, over the absurdity of life, is something that is precious and shouldn't be taken away. I should remember to laugh more, to not take myself so seriously. When I start to settle into the motions of the system I interact with, I forget that I am human.

 

[Lord Lavender]

Im reading through Lovecraft. His stories are scary but in a very philosophical sort of way plus it is comical how racist and prejudiced he is and it bleeds through in his writing like a rotten to the core orange leaking decaying juices. Great writier though plus he lived in the olden days so i can forgive him as.

 

[Tellenbach]

Good Profit by Charles Koch. Find out the business strategy and philosophy behind Koch Industries, a corp that's outperformed the S&P by 2700% since 1960.

Greater economic freedom is strongly correlated with not only higher income per capita, but with longer life expectancy, better environmental quality, improved health and education, less corruption, and better living standards - especially for the poor.

 

[nonsequitur]

A manhwa called The Flower of Evil.

Heh. That's actually a Japanese manga (later made into an anime), called 「悪の華」 so the translation is more along the lines of "blooming of evil".

I just finished Richard Flanagan's novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North, and it was very very good. Superficially, it's about the horrors of war, the POWs who built the Burma railway and the effects of that trauma. At the same time, it has an almost Japanese zen feel with different characters weaving together the impermanence of history/love and the importance of selecting personal narratives in defining good and evil in ourselves. I found out later that the title's actually a translation of the title of a Japanese haibun work (collection of haiku) 「奥の細道」which I'd personally translate as "the narrow alley to the inside" - which is very appropriate for this book in its examination of war and humanity. I highly recommend it.

 

[cosmic royal]

Heh. That's actually a Japanese manga (later made into an anime), called 「悪の華」 so the translation is more along the lines of "blooming of evil".

Actually, this was what I was referring to.

The Flower of Evil (manhwa) - Wikipedia

 

[Kas]

Rereading Peter Pan, it's an old favorite.

I like it too.
Maybe you would like Kensington Gardens by Rodrigo Fresan... Very good novel and referring to Barrie biography.

 

[nonsequitur]

Actually, this was what I was referring to.

The Flower of Evil (manhwa) - Wikipedia

Sorry - my mistake!

 

[Abendrot]

Im reading through Lovecraft. His stories are scary but in a very philosophical sort of way plus it is comical how racist and prejudiced he is and it bleeds through in his writing like a rotten to the core orange leaking decaying juices. Great writier though plus he lived in the olden days so i can forgive him as.

When you think about it, Lovecraft's unique style of horror (fear of the unknown) is really just Xenophobia taken to its logical extreme.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I'm re-reading "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey. It's feels more tragic, knowing McMurphy's end. But I am inspired by his rebellious nature, his individuality against the system, his effort to get the other patients to escape the fog of the Combine, to be human again. The day-to-day grind of the Combine, whether it's in the form of a mental hospital, peer group, culture, society, or government, always keeps its pressure on you to conform, until you shrivel into nothing but a tired sack of skin. And yet, as he demonstrated when he tried and failed to pick up the panel, even if you can't beat the system, it's better to have boldly lived on your own terms.

I recently read the part where Chief Broom mentions that McMurphy does what he wants to do, despite how he looks. He will write a beautiful letter or paint a picture, even though he only seems like a scarred, red-headed gambler, a hustler who likes to fight and fuck too much. And his laughter over everything, over a story, a card game, over the absurdity of life, is something that is precious and shouldn't be taken away. I should remember to laugh more, to not take myself so seriously. When I start to settle into the motions of the system I interact with, I forget that I am human.

Haven't read that, but as far as Kesey is concerned, I recommend checking out "Sometimes A Great Notion." It's quite good.

 

[1487610420]

http://www.typologycentral.com/forums/vaispy.php

 

[nonsequitur]

Finished the late Paul Kalanithi's "When Breath Becomes Air". Highly recommend it.

 

[cosmic royal]

Going to start on Voltaire's Candide.

 

[Lark]

Everything.

I intend to read everything.

All.

The.

Things.

 

[Jaguar]

Green Eggs and Ham

 

[Smilephantomhive]

Ella Minnow Pea

 

[Lord Lavender]

Just started reading Wintersmith by Prachett

 

[Abendrot]

Barbarians - Lauren Southern

 

[EJCC]

Binge-read "Storm Front" by Jim Butcher on a 6-hour cross-country flight. It was fine. My friends tell me the later books are better.

 

[The Cat]

Cold Days By Jim Butcher. IT's a novel of the Dresden Files.