Darkness and Scattered Light ------- William Erwin ThompsonA MIT Cultural historian by day, a Celtic Bard Guru by night. This is a really bizarre book that flew way under the radar. Using Jungian methods, he analyzes history and its artifacts. And through a combination of highly speculative thought laden with cultural free associations, Thompson pretty much doesn't miss. This book was written in 1978 and every "prediction" he made has essentially come true. This is New Age for the intellectual. Coherent well thought out intuitions lead to a stunning vision of the future and what he pulls off in this in nothing short of miraculous. Get the book yourself and be amazed. The Fragile Species ---------- Lewis ThomasIf you've never read anything by him, do yourself a favor and get "The Lives of the Cell." Lewis simply puts out some of the best science and medicine writing available. In this book, Lewis covers everything from AIDS and Thermonuclear war, to the nature of the mind, to our heritage in bacteria and viruses. READ THIS NOW.
Listen, Little Man ------------- Wilhelm ReichThis is a good introduction to the strange world of Wilhem Reich. There isnt much in here about his orgone boxes or orgone fields, so you'll have to go elswhere for his science. This is simply the reflections of a very creative mind. He speaks to the Little Man in all of us and shows a way to ascend. Tales of E.T.A Hoffman ------------- T.A HoffmanThis is the german who brought you the Nutcracker and the Sandman. Hoffman was a mystic living in the romantic age. The world of dreams, intellect and music intermingle in his short stories. He may have also been the first science fiction writer. Diary of a Madman and Other Stories ---------- Nikolai GogolA lot of people are freaked out by Russian literature. They forsee dense intellectual prose about "mother russia," matters of morals and 50 different names for each character. The good news only Doesteyefsky was that way. Gogol is probably one of the most readable writers to live. His dialogue actually sounds like the way people talk. His stories are absurd, laugh out loud funny, fantastic and teeter above the abyss. A great introduction to Russian literature and a great introduction to Gogol. This collection has some of his St. Petersburg stories and some Ukraine stories. Add on....
Sun_Fortune
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Very nice...I really appreciate these types of threads.
Re:Wilhelm Reich.
My father recently got into some of his writings and theories.He's tried to convince me that Reich was onto something with his "Orgonomy"(sp) stuff.His ideas seem really "far out",not sure the skeptic in me will accept such ideas.Wasn't he essentially shut down and silenced by our government? Maybe my father is just buying into some conspiracy shit?The title "Listen,Little Man" is intriguing though.I'll give it a shot.Am I going to be rolling my eyes within the first few pages?
He's definately out there, and who knows, he may have been on to something. However he kept getting shut down and had to fight a list of critics his whole career. Who knows what he might have done with proper backing and funding?
You should give it a shot. Its really short and will take an hour to read. He's very clear headed and reasonable.
I'm going to check out that Darkness and Scatered Light for sure. The Fragile Species sounds interesting as well. I dig the slightly-too-far-out-there-for-most-people type of shit. That Darkness book has me real interested actually... gonna stop by the library sometime this week.
Is it raer?
He's not dull, that's for sure.
Have you ever read any Knut Hamsun?
Nelson Algren: The Man With the Golden Arm
Despite the somewhat crappy cover this is a beautiful piece of fiction about urban alienation, addiction and gambling, written with a poets touch. Very recommended!
It looks like its available at amazon.com.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385128...5Fencoding=UTF8
Im actually about to order a bunch of his books. It was one of those 1.00 paperback purchases. I guarantee you will love that book. And I can't recommend Lewis Thomas enough.
Yeah that was kind of a swipe at Dostoevsky. But seriously, did you have an easy time getting through Brothers Karmozov? Not to mention that for whatever reason, every single one of his books is printed in like 9.5 point font and on bible thin paper. (makes for good joints tho...) I think Dostoevsky's ideas were great but as a literary talent, I dont think he even approaches Gogol, Tolstoy or Checkov.
I haven't read any Knut Hamsun, but you're the second person this week to recommend him. Anywhere I should start?
Of course not - but I figure that's more my fault than Dostoevsky's.
I read Crime & Punishment in days, though, unable to put it down.
Where to start is tough ... maybe "Hunger" as it is the one that
stays in print and that most would probably recommend as a starting point -
although "Mysteries" is pretty fun and a good introduction, and I think
the love story "Victoria" is my favorite, that or the rather simple fable "Pan."
--A readable biography of Nikolai Telsa (I dont know much about electronics. Im not really sure what a dynamo is)
--Sumerian Creation Myths
--Evo-devo
--Mayan Codexes
--Books about the earth's core
--Pythagoras
--Some cool game theory stuff
--Viruses and bacteria
--historical origins of numbers
...and tons more shit like that.
Also, does anybody know how to tap into online research databases, or can give me the names of any good ones??
I'm just now reading Bulgakov's Master and Margarita which is also really excellent (and a reasonably light read to boot). Next in line is Turgenev's Fathers & Sons. Even though I can't say I truly got his Diary of a Superfluous Man.
And yeah, Hamsun's Hunger was pretty dope. I recently read Paul Auster's Moon Palace (along with his Invention of Solitude which I also recommend) and it definitely borrows a thing or two from that Hamsun novel.
And Nelson Algren up there also wrote a pretty fine book with Never Come Morning - I've yet to check out that Golden Arm though...