‘Lonesome Traveler’


Jack Kerouac

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket — Pantagruel

Have you read his short stories "MS. Found in a Bottle," and "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall," written a few years before the novel? I've just read them and noticed that they both touch on the Hollow Earth theory, which is alluded to in the novel too, as I recall. Contrary to those critics who claim that Poe was just doing satire in these adventure stories, I reckon he was really into these theories.

The New Class: An Analysis of the Communist System by Milovan Djilas, a 1950s critique of the Soviet system by a Yugoslav communist, showing that the nomenklatura and the elite of the CPSU had become a new class, and therefore that what is important is not just ownership of the means of production but control.

Sounds very likely. I didn't find Pym to be at all satirical. Goes to show how much meaning depends on what you bring to what you read.

I've been on the fence about reading 100 years for a while now but it's obviously a must read. I think it's in the wife's library....

I've been on the fence about reading 100 years for a while now but it's obviously a must read. I think it's in the wife's library... — Pantagruel

I was the same. Glad I went for it.

I was the same. Glad I went for it. — Jamal

:up:

Hermeneutics and the Study of History
Wilhelm Dilthey

I cannot highly enough recommend Collingwood's Speculum Mentis to anyone interested in the philosophy of the concrete mind. It exemplifies how an original text is not reducible to a synopsis.

Ice by Anna Kavan.

Uncanny, haunting, and disorientating. Recommended.

Uncanny, haunting, and disorientating — Jamal

Oh so is an infrequent morning fog. Come on, give us a little more than that. Why are you a better or different person, at least, how has your mind or perspective on the world around you progressed or at least changed based on what you've read?

Thank you for your interest. If I wrote a review it would not be about me: not about the progress of my mind or my perspective, not about whether I have been improved by the experience, etc. There’s probably plenty of that stuff on Goodreads and YouTube.

Sorry to be an elitist dickhead :grin:

Actually I don’t think it’s necessarily elitist to expect a book review to be about the book rather than about the reviewer.

The Book of Genesis by James D Tabor.

Not only an attempt to translate as literally as possible but a system of notation to uncover the details and structure of the Hebrew text. It sounds great read aloud.

The Book of Genesis by James D Tabor.

Not only an attempt to translate as literally as possible but a system of notation to uncover the details and structure of the Hebrew text. It sounds great read aloud. — Paine

Interesting. I had to click a long way into the kindle preview before getting to see some of the text....

Yes, there is a training session at the beginning. The upside to that is the system is easily retained when reading the text.

Just bought an audiobook copy. Always been a sucker for Kafkaesque stories.

:up:

It's maybe a little Austeresque too, certainly his more ambiguous and confusing stuff. Also reminded me of The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro.

I'm reading Robert Saplolsky's, "Determined - A Science of Life Without Free Will". I read some good reviews, but I'm finding the book extremely disappointing.

I'm reading Robert Saplolsky's, "Determined - A Science of Life Without Free Will". I read some good reviews, but I'm finding the book extremely disappointing. — Relativist

I came across an interesting observation recently, that asked, if everything is behaviourism, then what exactly is it the behaviourists are doing?

The Aleph and Other Stories by Jorge Luis Borges.

Come on, give us a little more than that. Why are you a better or different person, at least, how has your mind or perspective on the world around you progressed or at least changed based on what you've read? — Outlander

Interesting. I can't think of a single book that has changed me like this. The notion of being a better person or progressing in some way seems very quaint to me. Is this how you judge books?

Interesting. I can't think of a single book that has changed me like this. The notion of being a better person or progressing in some way seems very quaint to me. Is this how you judge books? — Tom Storm

It's how I judge the works of those with a message worth sharing and perhaps encouraging and naturally later enforcing (though that hardly happens), yes. Not every work is of such value it transcends the genre of entertainment. Nor should there be. But generally speaking yes, the best forms of entertainment are those that manage to do so after the medium (paper or filmography) has ceased. That shouldn't be so abnormal a concept. Why is it to you?

That shouldn't be so abnormal a concept. Why is it to you? — Outlander

I'm not saying it is abnormal. I just don't think that way. My favorite books are celebrations of language and ideas and are aesthetically pleasing to me. No tome has 'improved' me. Perhaps deep down there are incremental renovations to my psyche that this or that book has contributed to, but nothing sticks out. However I can think of some non-fiction books that have abraded me - Nemesis on Hitler and In the Court of the Red Tsar on Stalin.

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy — Maw

I picked up a secondhand hardback copy in mint condition at a beachside book shop when travelling a few weeks ago and I've been reading it...a most powerfully evocative work!

The only McCarthy book I have really liked is Suttree - which I adore. I found BM forced and mannered. But I recognize I am an anomaly...

That interesting...I enjoy the language in BM. The only other book of his I have read, many years ago now, is The Road. Over the last couple years I have rediscovered a passion for fiction, after many years wasted ( :wink: ) reading philosophy. As the old saw would have it "there is no accounting for taste".

I am motivated to read some more of his work, so I'll put Suttree at the top of the list on account of your recommendation. :smile:

The Disoriented, Amin Maalouf. — javi2541997

8,5/10

Excellent novel. It surprised me the big differences between the different Arab countries. From Egypt to Lebanon. A good plot constructed with despair and a sense of drama because of the bad luck of living in the wrong time at the wrong moment. I admit that I was very ignorant regarding Arab culture, but this book just opened my eyes.

Life Is Elsewhere, Milan Kundera.

It is my first time reading Kundera. Let's see...

Yeah months and months later some prose still sticks with me.

A History of China by John Keay

Also been slowly reading the full One Thousand and One Nights

We Who Are About To... by Joanna Russ.

We Who Are About To... by Joanna Russ. — Jamal

It was really annoying so I abandoned it.

The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares.

A Man of Shadows - Jeff Noon

Critique of Pure Reason - Immanuel Kant

The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares. — Jamal

Finished. Score: 4.2/5. Susanna Clarke must have been influenced by it when she wrote Piranesi.

Next:

• Thus Were Their Faces by Silvina Ocampo
• Inverted World by Christopher Priest, a favourite author of mine who died a few days ago